§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women are in receipt of housing benefit.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe information requested is not available.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the extra cost of the housing benefit scheme in England only if the rate of withdrawal of housing benefit or rent taper was, respectively, reduced from 65 per cent. to(a) 55 per cent., (b) 50 per cent., (c) 45 per cent., (d) 40 per cent., (e) 33 per cent., and (f) 26 per cent. showing the division between rent rebates and rent allowances.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 25 June 1990]: It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for separate parts of the country. The table gives the estimated extra costs, in the current year and on a Great Britain basis, of altering the rate of withdrawal of housing benefit within the present structure of the scheme.
434W
£ million Taper (per cent.) Rent Rebate Rent Allowance Total Cost 55 90 70 160 50 140 110 250 45 210 160 370 40 290 230 520 33 430 340 770 26 630 500 1,130 (Source: Modelled using data drawn from the 1985–6–7 Family Expenditure Surveys).
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the extra cost of the housing benefit scheme in England only, if the earnings disregards were increased to £10 for a single household, £25 for a couple and £35 for a single parent.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 25 June 1990]: It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for separate parts of the country. However, for Great Britain, assuming that single people whose applicable amount includes the disability premium retain the £15 earnings disregard to which they are currently entitled, the estimated cost in the current year of increasing the earnings disregards in housing benefit would be about £110 million.
(Source: Modelled using data drawn from the 1985–6–7 Family Expenditure Surveys).
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the extra cost of the housing benefit scheme in England only, if the applicable amount for a single person aged 18 to 24 years was the same as that for a single person aged over 25 years and the applicable amount for a single-parent family was the same as that for a two-parent family.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 25 June 1990]: It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for separate parts of the country. However, for Great Britain, assuming
the extra estimated cost in the current year for housing benefit would be about £40 million.
- (a) the increase in the personal allowance would apply also to 16 and 17-year-olds on housing benefit (the applicable amount for this age group has been set at the same level as that for 18 to 24-year-olds since July 1989); and
- (b) the lone parent premium is subsumed into the increased personal allowance for lone parents, but the special earnings disregard is retained,