§ 33. Mr. DayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by how much he estimates lone parents will be better off in work than on benefits following reform of their benefit entitlement. [23084]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe latest independent research by the Policy Studies Institute suggest that the average additional income for lone parents already in work and on Family Credit is over £50 a week above the estimate of their out-of-work income. No estimate is currently available for the likely impact on this figure of the changes to the Family Premium in the income-related benefits; changes to Child Benefit for lone parents; or the increase in the help available through the Childcare Disregard in the in-work benefits.
§ 34. Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment she has made of the effect of lone-parent benefit reductions on the New Deal for Lone Parents. [23085]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe evaluation of the New Deal for Lone Parents will identify any points which have affected the programme's success. We need to keep these benefit changes in perspective.
Research suggests that lone parents in work and on Family Credit are better off than those on Income Support. To emphasise reductions in lone parent benefits is to underestimate the boost in morale, as well as the financial 105W gain, which the New Deal for Lone Parents can provide. The Government do not believe that the benefit changes will stop lone parents from moving into work.
The changes will apply only to lone parents making new benefit claims. In order to preserve work incentives for most current claimants, lone parents who are receiving Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance with the lone parent rate of family premium will be able to claim the lone parent rate of Child Benefit when they move into work.
We are addressing the real barriers to work with the New Deal for Lone Parents and the National Childcare Strategy.
§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the lone parent premium of an income support claimant will be protected if the claimant participates in a waged option of the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds and then returns to benefit at the end of the option. [25556]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyLone parents can choose whether to claim Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance. Those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance will have access to the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds. No specific protection has been built in to address these particular circumstances.
§ Mrs. BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will list the numbers claiming lone parent benefits by(a) constituency and (b) benefit agency district office. [23525]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe administration of Social Security benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Jackie Ballard, dated 23 January 1998:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for the numbers claiming lone parent benefits for your constituency and Benefit Agency (BA) District Office.The information requested is not available in the format requested. The BA collates Income Support (IS) statistics by BA District Offices. These Districts do not correspond to constituency boundaries or specific geographical areas.From April 1997 the IS lone parent premium was replaced by the higher rate of family premium for lone parents. The available information is shown in the table. This information is the latest available, it is provisional and maybe subject to change. It does not include those lone parent customers who are pensioners nor those registered sick who qualify for a higher rate premium such as a pensioner or disability premium.Information relating to parents in receipt of the lone parent element of Child Benefit, formerly known as One Parent Benefit could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.I hope you find this reply helpful.106W
Number of customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of the family premium by Benefit Agency districts November 1997 Barking and Havering 7,892 Cambridgeshire 7,789 City East 5,698 Essex South East 6,398 Essex South West 10,335 Hackney and Islington 11,234 Lea Roding 10,613 Leaside 13,439 107W
Number of customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of the family premium by Benefit Agency districts November 1997 Newham 9,899 North Essex 5,766 Norwich 7,377 Suffolk 7,784 Barnet 6,140 Bedfordshire 8,545 Buckinghamshire 7,831 Ealing 11,147 Euston 12,130 Harrow and Hillingdon 7,040 Neasden 8,393 North and East Hertfordshire 5,410 Northamptonshire 9,083 Oxfordshire 5564 Thames Valley 15,661 West Hertfordshire 4,667 Bankside 5,680 East Kent 9,385 East Sussex 5,712 Hampshire North 5,981 London Central 1,311 North and West Kent 18,059 Palace 13,123 Solent and New Forest 9,117 South Circular 12,313 Central Sussex 5,400 South-East Hants and Isle of Wight 8,832 South West Thames 9,752 Surrey 21,479 Thameside 10,678 West Sussex 7,746 Bristol Severnside 5,714 Bristol Brunel 8,449 Cornwall 6,107 Dorset 8,176 Devonia 6,892 Gloucestershire 6,450 South Devon 8,948 Somerset 6,909 Wiltshire 7,277 Central Staffordshire 4,811 Chesterfield and Worksop 4,984 North Nottinghamshire 4,848 North Staffordshire 7,091 Nottingham Trentside 12,349 Derwent and Trent 9,536 Leicestershire 11,880 Mercia Operations East 9,337 Mercia Operations West 7,499 Birmingham Chamberlain 12,167 Birmingham Tame Valley 11,786 Birmingham South East 5,393 Coventry 6,566 Hereford and Worcester 6,624 North Worcestershire 5,481 Sandwell 6,473 Shropshire 5,712 Walsall 4,793 Warwickshire 5,033 Wolverhampton 5,815 Cardiff and Vales 8,911 South Wales Valleys 14,807 Gwent Borders 6,243 Gwyneddigion and Maldwyn 4,239 South West Wales 11,501 Wrexham and North West Coast 7,266 Blackpool 4,998 Knowsley 6,677 Lancaster and South Cumbria 4,350 Liverpool Mersey 9,733 Liverpool North 5,697 North Cheshire 6,458
Number of customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of the family premium by Benefit Agency districts November 1997 North Cumbria 4,332 Preston 5,292 Sefton 5,612 South West Lancashire 5,565 Wirral 7,933 South Cheshire 6,339 Greater Manchester Lancashire 9,475 Greater Manchester Centre 15,236 Greater Manchester West 15,821 Greater Manchester South East 12,837 Greater Manchester Pennine 13,653 Barnsley 3,659 Bradford 8,303 Doncaster 5,115 East Yorkshire 3,612 Hull 8,809 Kirklees 6,225 Leeds 12,765 North Yorkshire 5,108 Rother and Dearne 6,431 Sheffield East 5,724 Sheffield West 3,228 Wakefield 5,620 Yorkshire Pennine 5,233 Newcastle 6,977 Durham 9,968 Northumberland 6,678 Tees 13,769 South Tyneside 7,685 Wearside 6,777 Glasgow East 5,799 Glasgow South 10,243 Glasgow West, Lomond and Argyle 6,345 Clyde Coast and Renfrew 6,727 South West Scotland 9,363 Highlands and Islands 4,336 Glasgow North 7,100 Clyde Valley 4,733 Coatbridge 3,032 East Edinburgh and Borders 8,503 Fife 5,475 Forth Valley 4,372 Grampian and Shetland 4,697 Lothian West 4,823 Tayside 6,842 A live load figure is a snapshot in time count.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will estimate the percentage of the savings achieved by abolishing lone parent premium and one parent benefit borne by each decile of the income distribution in 1999–2000. [24678]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the form requested as it is not possible to forecast the position in a future income distribution of new claimants to Lone Parent Premium and One Parent Benefit. Such information as is available is set out in the tables:
108W
Proportion of group in sections of income distribution for lone parents recipients of income support Percentage Before housing costs After housing costs Bottom 10 per cent. 10 13 Next 10 per cent. 30 47 Next 10 per cent. 28 22 Next 20 per cent. 21 11 Top 50 per cent. 10 7
Proportion of group in sections of income distribution non income support recipients of one parent benefit Percentage Before housing costs After housing costs
Proportion of group in sections of income distribution non income support recipients of one parent benefit Percentage Before housing costs After housing costs Bottom 30 per cent. 26 25 Next 20 per cent. 34 38 Top 50 per cent. 40 38 Notes:
1. The data comes from the Department's Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series, based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for the 1995–96 financial year and covering Great Britain. The FRS data was used to achieve a large enough sample size to provide more robust information. All results are subject to sampling error.
2. The income measure used in the answer is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income. The definition of income used follows that in the published HBAI series for FRS based results; figures are given both before and after housing costs in line with usual HBAI practice
3. The measure of income used covers household income. A household can include more than one benefit unit, for example, a household containing a pensioner and their grown-up child or two single unrelated people sharing a household. The estimates assume that all of the people within a household have the same standard of living.
4. Percentage figures may not add to 100 per cent. due to rounding.