§ Mr. Gordon MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Blackpool, South constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [142222]
§ Mr. RookerThe Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of
Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10;Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and,Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report, "Opportunity for all—One year on: making a difference" (Cm 4865, September 213W 2000) sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done. Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than constituency level data, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in Blackpool, South since May 1997.
We are spending an additional £7 billion a year on support for families and children. This includes significant increases in child benefit, which is now worth £15 a week for the eldest child and £10 a week for other children: nationally about 7 million families receive child benefit, and in Blackpool, South 12,394 families benefit.
We have launched the New Deals to help lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over 50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since August 1998 the number of people receiving Jobseekers' Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,205,800 to 972,700; in Blackpool, South, the number has reduced from 2,100 to 2,000. The number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased over the same period from 955,000 to 910,100 nationally and in Blackpool, South the number has remained the same at 2,300.
Next year we will be spending £4.5 billion a year extra in real terms on pensioners as a result of our policies. Winter Fuel Payments have continued to tackle fuel poverty. So far this winter, around 11 million people, of whom around 21,200 live in Blackpool, South, have benefited from the payment. The scheme has been extended to include eligible people from age 60 so that even more older people will benefit. For this winter only, households that qualify will receive an increased payment of £200. The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) targets the poorest 1.6 million pensioner families, of whom 5,000 live in Blackpool, South. These pensioners will benefit from our alignment of all MIG rates from April 2001, giving single pensioners at least £92.15 each week—a real increase of £12.45 for the poorest pensioners.