§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will indicate (i) the number of claimants who were awarded transitional protection following the implementation of the Social Security Act, (ii) the number of claimants who are still in receipt of transitional protection within each category and (iii) the number of claimants whose overall benefit will not rise on uprating day as a result of transitional protection.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 6 March 1989]: Precise information is not available for income support claimants. An estimated 1.4 million income support claimants were awarded transitional protection when that benefit was introduced in April 1988. Estimated numbers in the categories used in the technical annex to the White Paper on the reform of social security (Cmnd. 9691), still receiving transitional protection at the end of March 1989 are as follows:
Number Pensioners 80 + 170,000 Pensioners aged 60–79 340,000 All pensioners 510,000 Persons receiving the disability premium 30,000 Lone parents 160,000 Couples with children 30,000 Others 470,000 Total 1,200,000 An estimated 3.9 million income support claimants will receive a benefit increase at this year's uprating; approximately 570,000 are expected not to receive an increase.
To date 176,529 people have received housing benefit transitional payments and 149 have received income support transitional payments from the transitional payments unit in Glasgow. At 1 March 1989, 169,409 applicants were still receiving housing benefit transitional payments and 59 were receiving income support transitional payments, broken down into the following categories:
Housing benefit Income support Pensioners 128,546 25 Families with children 19,796 25 Sick and disabled 11,585 9 Widows 8,636 — Industrial Injury Benefit recipients 454 — War Pensioners 392 — An estimated 1,200 people receiving housing benefit transitional payments and 59 people receiving income support transitional payments are expected to receive no overall increase in their benefit income at uprating.
Sixty-five former family income supplement claimants received a protected amount following the change to family credit. A small proportion may still be receiving it. No one will still be receiving protection by the time of the April uprating.