§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a revised version of the table in leaflet AB11 of net incomes 143W qualifying for help with National Health Service costs, including examples of persons receiving attendance allowance, mobility allowance, or invalidity benefit; and whether he will insert a correction slip in leaflet AB11 giving similar examples.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 12 June 1989]: A revised version of the table would be as follows:
Single people without children If receiving attendance allowance, mobility allowance or invalidity benefit £ £ Under 18 20.80 34.50 18 to 24 27.40 41.10 25 and over 34.90 48.60 60 to 79 46.10 48.60 80 and over 48.60 48.60
Couples without children If one of the couple is receiving one of the above benefits £ £ Both under 18 41.60 61.10 At least one of the couple 18 or over 54.80 74.30 At least one of the couple aged 60 to 79 71.85 74.30 At least one over age 80 74.30 74.30
Lone parents If the parent is receiving one of the above benefits £ £ Under 18 31.20 41.00 18 and over 45.30 55.10
Couples with children If one of the couple is receiving one of the above benefits £ £ Both under 18 48.10 67.60 At least one of the couple 18 or over 61.30 80.80 144W
Breakdown of Contributory Benefit Expenditure Breakdown of net contributions3 (per week) £ billion Percentage share Pre.October 1989 Post.October 1989 £ £ Retirement pensions1 20,766 73.2 16.00 14.13 Widow's Benefits 930 3.3 0.72 0.64 Unemployment, incapacity and other benefits 5,160 18.2 3.98 3.51 Other2 566 2.0 0.44 0.39 Administration 960 3.4 0.74 0.66 TOTAL 28,382 100 21.87 19.33 1 Including Christmas bonus and earnings-related benefits. 2 Including Industrial Injuries benefits and Maternity Allowance. 3 A man on average male earnings in assumed to earn £275.10 a week in 1989–90. On the basis of the current NIC system in force until October 1989 he will pay £24.76 a week if he is not contracted-out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme(SERPS). £2.89 of the £24.76 is allocated
Children £ To the amount shown above that applies to you, add one of the following amounts for each additional child in your family: Under 11 11.75 11 to 15 17.35 16 to 17, doing a full-time further education course not above A-level or equivalent standard 20.80 18 and over, doing a full-time further education course not above A-level or equivalent standard 27.40 Add a further £6.50 for any child who is getting attendance allowance or mobility allowance.
Such a table would still not cover people who qualify for a disability premium on other grounds, nor reflect that some people receiving attendance allowance may qualify for the severe disability premium. The Department is considering, with the Department of Health, how best to clarify the position for all those who may be affected, in the light of the effect on the existing table of forthcoming changes in the income support pensioner premiums.
§ Mr. McLoughlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what benefits are covered by the payment of national insurance contributions; what percentage of the total sum is each one, assuming the person is on average weekly wage; and what percentage of each benefit is covered by taxation.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 13 June 1989]: National insurance contributions, less the allocation to the National Health Service, are paid into the national insurance fund, which pays for all contributory benefits. These include: retirement pension including the Christmas bonus and the earnings-related additional component, widow's benefits and industrial injuries benefits. National insurance contribution rates are fixed each year to balance very broadly contributions into and benefit expenditure out of the fund; they are not fixed by adding up components relevant to the cost of each benefit. Assuming the abolition of the Treasury supplement from April 1989 the fund will receive no income from taxation. Entitlement to the state earnings-related part of the retirement pension is fixed by reference to the movement of earnings since the year in which the relevant contributions were made.
In 1989–90 the share of breakdown of contributory benefit expenditure, and the remaining information is expected to be as follows:
145W
to the National Health Service, giving a net contribution to the National Insurance Fund of £21.87 a week. Under the system that will operate from October 1989 the not contracted out contribution will be £21.75 of which £2.44 will be allocated to the NHS leaving a net contribution of £19.31 to the Fund. These net figures are further broken down by reference to the percentage shares quoted in the table. (Components do not add to the totals because of rounding).