§ Mr. Sean HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many non-industrial civil servants are in receipt of family credit; how many receive income support and how many receive housing benefit; and what is the total amount paid weekly to non-industrial civil servants for each of the above benefits.
§ Mr. Peter LloydI regret that the information is not available.
§ Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the average length of time taken to process applications for family credit; what is his assessment of the effect this has upon(a) the subsequent processing of housing benefit and (b) the accumulation of rent arrears; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydFor the average length of time taken to process claims for family credit, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford (Mr. Shepherd) on 6 December at column124. Where a person receiving or claiming housing benefit has also claimed family credit, the calculation of his housing benefit will not be affected until family credit is actually received. The award will be treated as a normal change of circumstances, reducing housing benefit or eliminating it altogether depending on the amount by which the claimant's total net income including family credit exceeds his applicable amount. There should be no question of rent arrears arising from these arrangements.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will indicate how many claims for family credit have(a) been received, (b) been determined and (c) resulted in an award.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd:By 16 December 1988, 480,000 claims had been received. Of these, 434,000 had been determined, of which 299,000 had resulted in an award. In addition, 206,000 awards of family income supplement were converted to awards of family credit, without a claim being made.