§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the earnings disregards are for all single or married income support claimants who are required to be available for work; what earnings received by a claimant are not counted for income support purposes; what expenses can an income support claimant deduct from their gross earnings when calculating their benefit; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottThe main disregards and provisions in income support for people with weekly earnings who are required to be available for work are:
- Couples aged under 60 years who have been continuously in receipt of income support for two years or more—£15 per couple.
- Couples receiving, or with underlying title to, the disability premium—£15 per couple.
- All other couples—£5 each member.
- Single people—£5
Earnings from employment which ceased before the claim for income support was made are ignored, with the exception of royalties and, for people below pension age, holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice or remuneration, and retainer fees.
Deductions are made from gross earnings in respect of income tax, social security contributions and one half of any contribution towards an occupational or personal pension scheme. In addition, where earnings are from self-employment deductions may be made for certain expenses wholly and exclusively defrayed for the purposes of that employment.
§ Mr. MaxtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many single-pensioner households in Scotland are in receipt of income support or have been in receipt of income support or supplementary benefit for each of the past five years, expressed as a percentage of all single-pensioner households and as a numerical total.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[pursuant to her reply, 1 March 1990, c. 318–20]: I regret that the information given was 376W incorrect. The corrected figures, which relate to single people aged 60 and over, are in the table. The information requested is not available for single-pensioner households.
Number of "Single" people in Scotland Thousands 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 a. Aged 60 and over 482 483 483 484 484 b. In receipt of Income Support aged 60 and over 131 138 135 150 149 c. Percentage in receipt of Income Support 27.2 28.6 28 31 30.8 Note: The population figures are mid-year population estimates from the population statistics branch of the General Registry Office for Scotland. The number of benefit recipients are taken from the annual statistical enquiries (ASE) in December 1983, December 1984, February 1986, May 1987 and May 1988. No ASE was produced in 1985.