§ Mr. Alan HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the current numbers and proportions of recipients of(a) income support, (b) housing benefit and (c) council tax benefit with earnings set against the earnings disregard of (i) £5, (ii) £10, (iii) £15 and (iv) £25, giving figures separately for (1) couples, (2) single people and (3) lone parents. [13049]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe information is set out in the tables.
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Income support/housing benefit/council tax benefit single people with dependants with disregarded earnings: May 1995 Disregard Income support Housing benefit Council tax benefit £ Number Per cent. Number Per cent. Number Per cent. 15 70,000 6.2 n/a n/a n/a n/a 25 n/a n/a 104,000 78.6 94,000 76.6 Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. 2. It has not been possible correctly to identify the appropriate disregard in every case. 3. For housing benefit and council tax benefit, earners have been identified as those with earnings from employment and self-employment including those with part-time earnings. For income support earnings refer to income from part-time employment or self-employment. 4. N/A denotes not applicable. 5. Proportions expressed are recipients with earnings as a proportion of the relevant group type (ie. all couples/single/lone parents). 6. Figures for council tax benefit do not include second adult rebate cases. 7. Housing benefit/council tax benefit cases also in receipt of income support have been excluded as earnings have not been disregarded in terms of the housing benefit/council tax benefit assessment as they have already been taken into account in the income support assessment. Sources: 1. Income support statistics quarterly inquiry May 1995. 2. Housing benefit management information system annual 1 per cent. sample enquiry, without income support, taken at the end of May 1995.