§ Lord Stallardasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total of monies deducted under the Payments for Debt (Emergency Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 for each year from 1971 to the latest year for which figures are available, what was the amount of deductions made from social security benefits, and from which particular benefits those deductions were made.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Lyell)The main measure taken under this Act to effect debt recovery is Benefit Allocation, operated by the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland. The total deductions from social security benefits which have been paid to creditor bodies are as follows:—
Information on amounts recovered by other measures, including deductions from public sector employees' earnings, and the detailed information relating to social security benefits could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.470WA
£ £ 1971/72 367,692 1978/79 1,144,208 1972/73 1,925,187 1979/80 1,501,938 1973/74 1,404,772 1980/81 2,221,168 1974/75 602,613 1981/82 1,343,332 1975/76 447,605 1982/83 2,518,839 1976/77 1,359,749 1983/84 3,025,916 1977/78 1,073,854 1984/85 2,743,308 21,680,181 Prior to 1977, deductions could be made from the full range of social security benefits, but present policy is to deduct only from invalidity benefit, retirement pension, sickness benefit, supplementary benefit, unemployment benefit, widow's benefit and child benefit.