HC Deb 17 February 1988 vol 127 c630W
Mr. Dunnachie

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the effect of non-householders deduction for claimants under 26 years receiving income support contained in the housing benefit scheme from April, has been taken into account when estimating the number of losers under income support in the Government's publication "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits".

Mr. Scott

Paragraph 11 of the preface to the "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits" makes clear that the tables contained in it do not include the effect of changes to the structure of non-dependant deductions.

Mr. Dunnachie

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how the numbers of people requiring transitional additions relate to the numbers of losers estimated in the Government's report entitled "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits".

Mr. Scott

Table 1B of the technical annex, "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits" shows an estimated 1.66 million claimants to have a lower entitlement to income support than to supplementary benefit. This is calculated by comparing the current system, uprated to 1988–89 values, with income support. It is estimated that at the point of change, around 1.4 million claimants will have a lower entitlement to income support than their current entitlement to supplementary benefit and these people will receive transitional protection.

Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services to what extent his calculations on the effect of the structural reform of social security benefits on sick and disabled people included(a) disabled pensions, (b) unemployed registered disabled people and (c) families with disabled children.

Mr. Scott

[holding answer 1 February 1988]: I refer the hon. Member to "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits" October 1987, a copy of which is in the Library. Within the category "pensioners aged 60–79" are 130,000 income support claimants who will qualify for the higher pensioner premium because they are disabled. Of these, about 100,000 will also be in receipt of housing benefit. The equivalent figure for housing benefit claimants not also in receipt of income support is 150,000. The 10,000 income support families expected to receive the disabled child's premium form part of the categories "Lone parents" and "Couples with children". There is no premium specific to unemployed registered disabled people; unemployed claimants who are blind or who receive mobility allowance or attendance allowance will qualify for the disability premium.