HC Deb 03 December 1986 vol 106 cc702-3W
Mrs. Beckett

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims for invalid care allowance have been made by (a) men, (b) single women and (c) married or cohabiting women in each month of 1986; for each group, how many decisions have been taken, and how many claimants have been successful; and what is the breakdown of the reasons for disallowance in the unsuccessful cases.

Mr. Major

The information to 21 November, the latest date for which information is available, is given in the following tables. I regret that it is not possible to provide separate figures for men and single women.

Table 1: Claims
Month Men and single women Married or cohabiting women
January 1986 774 1,367
February 855 1,272
March 755 1,132
April 681 1,013
May 782 3,463
June 738 3,200
July 1,735 7,925
August 1,561 7,904
September 5,522 29,257
October 4,037 15,135
November 2,752 6,996

Table 2: Decisions1
Month Men and single women Married or cohabiting women
January 1986 646 110
February 636 88
March 637 115
April 702 87
May 982 100
June 766 129
July 568 49
August 1,340 347
September 1,261 2,624
October 2,856 6,606
November 1,739 8,232
1Includes claims withdrawn by claimant and claims returned to claimant.

Table 3: Awards
Month Men and single women Married or cohabiting women
January 1986 401 0
February 333 0
March 369 0
April 461 0
May 623 0
June 464 0
July 381 0
August 984 113
September 603 1,708
October 1,328 5,133
November 1,066 6,367

Table 4: Reasons for disallowance
Reason for disallowance January February March April May June July August September October November
A: Men and single women
Claimant caring less than 35 hours per week 2 1 1 5 9 2 3 0 1 3 6
Invalid person not severely disabled 89 141 103 85 125 123 66 168 118 193 135
ICA already in payment 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 0
Rival claim to ICA 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Claimant over 60/65—no prior entitlement 17 12 18 9 19 7 17 47 66 474 147
Claimant under age 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Claimant in full time education 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 2
Claimant married woman 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Claimant separated but maintained by ex-husband 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Claimant cohabiting with a man 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0
Claimant gainfully employed 20 12 14 12 18 11 7 3 11 10 18
Death of invalid 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 22 2 1
Claimant not ordinarily resident in United Kingdom 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 0
Presence test not satisfied 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Entitled on return from abroad 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0
Full overlapping personal benefit 53 66 80 77 102 81 66 89 52 152 143
Overlapping personal benefit reduced rate ICA payable 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Full overlapping personal and dependents benefit 2 1 1 11 1 1 0 6 1 3 4
Overlapping adult dependent benefit reduced rate ICA payable 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
B: Married or cohabiting women
Claimant caring less than 35 hours per week 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Invalid person not severely disabled 37 22 42 28 34 62 20 126 241 407 230
ICA already in payment 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8
ICA already in payment in respect of another disabled person 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Claimant over 60/65—no prior entitlement 32 35 30 24 44 56 22 98 213 405 1,295
Claimant gainfully employed 13 9 13 12 11 4 2 1 0 16 23
Death of invalid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Full overlapping personal benefit 14 15 22 10 7 3 0 0 0 6 35

Mrs. Beckett

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many (a) married or (b) co-habiting women have been awarded backdated invalid care allowance since the Government's decision to extend invalid care allowance to this group of people; and how much has been paid to each group.

Mr. Major

Up to 28 November, the latest date for which information is available, 13,500 married and cohabiting women had been awarded and paid invalid care allowance. No distinction is made in records between married and co-habiting women. Up to 28 November, the total amount of invalid care allowance paid to all beneficiaries since awards to married women began was £27.5 million. This sum includes arrears and current payments made to both men and women as a result of awards made in this period. I regret that it is not possible to distinguish payments of arrears to married and cohabiting women from the total figure.