§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many new claimants of widows' benefit are currently being awarded initial or emergency payments only as a result of the difficulties in implementation of the NIRS2 system. [59284]
§ Mr. TimmsAll new claims to Widows' Benefit (WB) where there is potential entitlement to a weekly Widows' Pension (WP) or Widowed Mother's Allowance (WMA) should be receiving emergency payments as the NIRS contributions record is not available. There are about 4,000 new claims to WB each month. 28,000 claims have been received from April to October of which about 21,000 have entitlement to WP or WMA.
Sources:Central Data UnitAnnual WB claims 1996–97 = 47,435 of which 37,910 have WP/WMA.Annual WB claims 1997–98 = 45,291 of which 36,539 have WP/WMA.