§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) discretionary payments on account and (b) Crisis Loan alignment payments were made to applicants for benefit who faced hardship while their benefit application was being considered in the last four years for which figures are available; and what the total expenditure was on these payments. [85152]
§ Malcolm WicksWe recognise that many people making a claim to benefit will be in need of immediate financial support. To avoid unnecessary hardship, discretionary payments on account of benefit (interim payments) can be made where a claim has not been determined but the Decision Maker is satisfied that the basic conditions of entitlement for the benefit are likely to be met. The amount of any interim payment is automatically recoverable from the main benefit when it is awarded. No record is kept of the number or value of interim payments made.
Crisis Loan alignment payments can be made to people awaiting their first payment of benefit which is paid in arrears, or their first payment of wages. Crisis Loans made to people awaiting benefit payments will cover their needs until their first benefit pay-day, following which full or interim payments of benefit can be made. In the main, these payments are made to people of working age (as pensioners are generally paid in advance). Information is not collected separately on the number or value of alignment payments made to people awaiting a first payment of benefit.
The available information is in the table. The figures show the total number and value of Crisis Loan alignment payments made, including those made to people awaiting payment of their first wage.
603W
Social Fund Crisis Loan alignment payments Year Number of payments Expenditure (£ million) 1998–99 433,851 20 1999–2000 474,076 23 2000–01 476,936 24 2001–02 486,031 27 Notes:
- 1. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.
- 2. Awards including alignment payments may include other items.
- 3. Technical problems with the Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System mean that figures for 1998–99 may be subject to a margin of error of 5 per cent. to 10 per cent. and should therefore be treated as a guide only.
Sources:
Annual Reports by the Secretary of State on the Social Fund 1998–99 to 2001–02; and the Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.