§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish information on the estimated total expenditure on housing benefit in Scotland in 1983–84 showing the division of expenditure between (a) rate rebates, (b) rent rebates and (c) rent allowances.
§ Dr. BoysonEstimates of the total cost of housing benefit in Scotland for 1983–84 are as follows:
£ million a. rate rebates 134 b. rent rebates 205 c. rent allowances 20
§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide the latest available figures or estimates for (a) the total number of households receiving housing benefit in Scotland, (b) the division of these between certified and standard cases, (c) the number receiving housing benefit supplement and (d) the number receiving the transitional addition, and limiting taper losses (i) at April 1983 and (ii) after 21 November 1983.
§ Dr. BoysonBased on the latest available information — August 1983 — we estimate that there are approximately 812,000 households receiving housing benefit in Scotland, of which 280,000 are certificated cases and 532,000 standard cases. Information on the number of housing benefit supplement cases and those receiving the transitional addition is not held centrally.
§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will (i) provide a breakdown showing the number of households in Scotland losing housing benefit because of (a) the increased tapers, (b) the increased non-dependant deductions and (c) the higher minimum rebate allowance limit and (ii) show the total savings made in Scotland in each of the above changes in housing benefit;
315W(2) if he will publish a breakdown of losses in housing benefit related to non-dependant deductions in Scotland (a) between standard and certified cases and (b) between the different brackets of non-dependants, that is 16 to 17-year-olds, 18 to 20-year-olds and those aged 21 years to retirement age;
(3) if he will publish a breakdown of the losses of claimants in Scotland which will arise from the cuts in housing benefit announced on 17 November showing the total number of households suffering financial loss and a breakdown of these by (a) tenure groups — council tenants of private landlords, tenants of housing associations and owner occupiers, (b) household type— pensioner households, families with dependent children and other, (c) income brackets and (d) the amount of benefit that will be lost each week per household, showing the number of households losing up to 75p per week, between 75p to £1.00 per week, between £1.00 to £1.50 per week and between £1.50 to £2.00 per week;
(4) if he will publish estimates of how many pensioners in Scotland will lose more than (a) £1.00 a week, (b) £1.25 a week, (c) £1.50 a week, (d) £2.00 a week and (e) £4.00 a week because of the introduction of the changes in housing benefit announced on 17 November 1983;
(5) if he will provide an estimate of the number of claimants in Scotland by the following household types who will lose all entitlement to housing benefit as a result of the introduction of changes announced on 17 November 1983: (a) pensioner households, (b) other households with non-dependants and (c) other households with dependant children only.
§ Dr. BoysonEstimates of the number of claimants in Scotland who will lose benefit as a result of these changes, and estimates of the resultant savings which will be made in Scotland, are not available.