§ Lord Carterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the cost of increasing the threshold levels in the disability working allowance to £50 per week for single claimants and £75 per week for couples and single claimants; and what is their estimate of the additional numbers of people who would qualify for the benefit if the thresholds were set at those rates.
§ Lord HenleyWe estimate that it would cost about £22.5 million (net) to set the threshold levels for disability working allowance at £50 per week for single claimants and £75 per week for couples and single parents rather than at the levels we used for illustrative purposes in the Note on Disability Working Allowance. There would be an increase in the estimated average caseload of about 3,000. However, estimates for the disability working allowance can only be tentative since they are based on assumptions about behavioural changes and the likely earnings levels of potential claimants.