HC Deb 12 April 1988 vol 131 cc121-2W
Mr. Gordon Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide a breakdown of the extra expenditure on income support for families with children in 1988–89, broken down into expenditure incurred by transitional protection and expenditure not incurred by transitional protection; and, in each case, how much of this expenditure is attributable to compensation for the 20 per cent. rates contribution, on the same basis as his reply to the hon. Member for Dunfermline, East on 7 March,Official Report, columns 56–7.

Mr. Scott

Of the £150 million extra expenditure on income support for families with children in 1988–89, extra expenditure on transitional protection will be £20 million and that on structural changes £130 million.

Extra expenditure on income support for families with children in 1988–89 to compensate for the 20 per cent. rates contribution will be £80 million. This relates entirely to the structural effect. However, in calculating the amount of benefit payable at the point of change to income support, compensation for the rates contribution is also to be built into the supplementary benefit levels. But for this, the cost of transitional protection for families with children would have been reduced by £10 million and the total additional expenditure in 1988–89 reduced from £150 million to £140 million.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to undertake to estimate the number of disabled claimants by constituency who will receive a lower entitlement under income support than they currently receive.

Mr. Scott

The effects of the reformed structure of income-related benefits on all the various client groups, including the disabled, will he monitored. It will not, however, be possible to provide information on an individual constituency basis.

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