§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West, of 4 July,Official Report, column 137, whether he will publish in the Official Report a table accounting for the differences between the illustrative income support rates in the technical annex to the 1985 White Paper and the rates introduced in April 1988, showing the effect of each of the factors contributing to those differences.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardAs made clear in the document, the rates published in the technical annex to the 1985 White paper were purely illustrative. The actual income support rates were set taking account of the circumstances at the time.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what amount of deduction in the calculation of the April 1988 income support rates the adjustments to provide help towards the requirement to make a minimum contribution to domestic rates referred to in the reply to the hon. Member for Leeds, West, of 4 July,Official Report, column 137, was included for the purpose of meeting part of the cost of that help; and what were the amounts of the adjustments before and after such deductions.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThere were no deductions from the adjustments referred to.
§ Mr. Robin CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what continuing monitoring he is making of the effect of the reform of social security; and what is his latest estimate of the percentage of claimants on income support who are receiving less than they would have under the previous rules for supplementary benefit uprated for price inflation.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardWe are continuing to monitor all aspects of the social security reforms.
Estimates of the effects of the reforms on income support beneficiaries were set out in the booklet "Impact Of The Reformed Structure Of Income-Related Benefits" published in October 1987, a copy of which is in the Library.