§ Ms. EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cummulative amount of savings in 1993–94 on child benefit resulting from(a) not fully uprating it and (b) changing its structure since 1979 in gross and net terms.
§ Mr. Burt[holding answer 3 December 1992]: Information is not available in the form requested. We estimate that gross expenditure on child benefit in 1992–93 is £5.7 billion. If child benefit had been uprated annually in line with the retail prices index and with the normal rounding to the nearest 5p, the April 1979 rate—£4 a week per child—would be £9.20 from April 1992. It is estimated that the total savings in 1992–93 from paying £9.65 for the eldest qualifying child and £7.80 for each other child, instead of £9.20 for every child, are about £240 million. The corresponding net savings, after allowing for normal adjustments to other benefits, are around £145 million. It is not yet possible to make comparable estimates for 1993–94.
The extra help that has been made available to less well-off families since 1988 through the income-related benefits is worth around £620 million 1992–93, raising to around £1 billion in 1993–94.