§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the costs of covering mortgage interest relief of income support claimants for each of the last 10 years.[82567]
§ Angela EagleThe information is in the table. Income Support for the unemployed was replaced by income-based Jobseeker's Allowance from October 1996 and the figures are contained in a separate table.
359W
Income Support/Supplementary Benefit cases in Great Britain with mortgage interest 1988–98 £ million Year Number of claimants Estimated annual expenditure 1998–89 286,000 274 1989–90 281,000 356 1990–91 310,000 554 1991–92 411,000 945 1992–93 529,000 1,214 1993–94 550,000 1,137 1994–95 517,000 995 1995–96 488,000 996 1996–97 377,000 671 1997–98 295,000 501
Income Support/Supplementary Benefit cases in Great Britain with mortgage interest 1996–1998 £ million Year Number of claimants Estimated annual expenditure 1996–97 94,000 99 1997–98 67,000 144 Notes
- 1. Figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample up to and including May 1993 and a 5 per cent. sample thereafter.
- 2. Figures for 1992–93 onwards are based on an average of payments and numbers of claimants in the inquiry week using an average of the four quarters of the financial year.
- 3. Figures prior to this are based on numbers and average amounts paid in May of each year.
- 4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and the estimated annual expenditure is rounded to the nearest million pounds.
- 5. Prior to November 1995 figures on amounts of Income Support Mortgage Interest paid to claimants were published in the Quarterly Statistical Enquiry. From November 1995 onwards these have been replaced by figures on housing costs payable to claimants with mortgage interest payments. This change is due to alterations in Income Support rules and provides a more accurate reflection of the help actually provided to claimants under the housing cost rules. From 1992–93 onwards the estimates that have been used for this answer have been based on amounts of housing requirements payable to claimants with mortgage interest payments, and will include amounts for ground rent and other miscellaneous housing costs, although the majority of the amount is paid for mortgage interest. Figures prior to 1992–93 are not directly comparable with data after this date for this reason.
- 6. Income Support figures exclude the unemployed from October 1996, as Income Support for the unemployed was replaced by Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) from this point.
- 7. The February 1998 quarterly figure used in the annual 1997–98 JSA figure includes nil mortgage cases (i.e. cases with housing requirements only).
- 8. JSA estimated expenditure for 1996–97 represents a 6 month estimate from the introduction of income-based JSA, the 1997–98 is an annual estimate.
Sources
- 1. Jobseeker's Allowance Statistics Quarterly Enquiries, November 1996– February 1998
- 2. Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries, 1988–1993
- 3. Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiries, May 1994–May 1998