HC Deb 25 November 1999 vol 339 cc195-6W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate(a) the current number of people in receipt of residential allowance and the projections for (i) 2005, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2015 and (b) the cost in each case, assuming uprating continues as before. [98458]

Mr. Bayley

At May 1999, the estimated number of Income Support claimants in receipt of Residential Allowance is 195,000. The estimated annual expenditure on the Income Support Residential Allowance is £612 million.

There are no caseload or expenditure projections available for the number of people in receipt of Residential Allowance at 2005, 2010 or 2015.

Note: Figure is based on a 5 per cent. sample of Income Support claimants at May 1999 and is rounded to the nearest thousand.

Source: Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, May 1999.