HC Deb 04 February 1993 vol 218 cc305-12W
Mr. McMaster

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list those local authorities which operate a total disregard scheme in relation to housing benefit for(a) both war disablement and war widows' pensions (b) war disablement pensions only, (c) war widows' pensions only, and (d) those authorities which do not operate a total disregard scheme for either category; if he will publish a table showing the annual cost of running each scheme to the local authority expressed (i) in actual terms and (ii) as a per capita cost to the population in that area; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Burt

I have been asked to reply.

A £10 statutory disregard of war widows' and war disablement pensions applies across the income-related benefits. Local authorities also have a discretionary power to enhance this disregard at their own expense in calculating entitlement to housing benefit and community charge benefit. We have no plans to change these arrangements.

The data requested on these local schemes has been compiled from the latest information from local authorities for the financial year 1990–91, together with the latest population figures from the 1991 census, and is listed in the tables. It is not possible to break down the annual cost between war disablement and war widows' pensions.

Local authorities which operate a total disregard scheme

in housing benefit for both war disablement

and war widows' pensions
Local authority Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
Aberconwy 14,032 0.26
Aberdeen 167,439 0.82
Amber Valley 34,464 0.31

Local authority Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
Angus 37,555 0.40
Annandale 23,217 0.63
Arfon 2,050 0.04
Argyll-Bute 1— —
Arun 1,726 0.01
Ashfield 31,472 0.29
Ashford 43,073 0.47
Badenoch 2,489 0.23
Banff and Buchan 39,915 0.47
Basingstoke 50,838 0.36
Bassetlaw 22,254 0.22
Bearsden and Milngavie 2,989 0.07
Berwickshire 10,022 0.52
Birmingham 58,184 0.06
Blackpool 13,811 0.10
Blaenau Gwent 2,646 0.04
Boston 24,805 0.47
Bracknell 31,060 0.33
Bradford 48,316 0.11
Braintree 86,454 0.75
Brent 23,596 0.10
Brentwood 1— —
Brighton 37,864 0.28
Broxbourne 24,148 0.30
Broxtowe 34,290 0.33
Burnley 10,962 0.12
Caithness 1— —
Calderdale 1— —
Cannock Chase 4,820 0.06
Cardiff 1— —
Carlisle 71,481 0.72
Carrick 9,409 0.11
Castle Point 27,578 0.33
Ceredigion 15,262 2—
Charnwood 4,055 0.03
Chelmsford 63,085 0.42
Cheltenham 7,081 0.08
Cherwell 33,739 0.29
Chesterfield 9,853 0.10
Chiltern 18,686 0.21
Christchurch 20,591 0.51
Clackmannan 23,540 0.49
Clydebank 73,548 1.61
Clydesdale 21,144 0.37
Colwyn 1— —
Congleton 20,747 0.25
Copeland 37,560 0.53
Cotswold 38,886 0.53
Coventry 45,550 0.16
Craven 14,674 0.30
Crewe & Nantwich 22,495 0.22
Cumbernauld (DC) 1— —
Cumbernauld (Kils) 8,404 0.13
Cumnock & Doon 13,939 0.33
Cunninghame 83,004 0.61
Dacorum 2,674 0.02
Dartford 34,045 0.43
Daventry 10,757 0.17
Delyn 4,152 0.06
Dumbarton 30,432 0.39
Dundee 117,578 0.71
Dunfermline 56,890 0.45
Dwyfor 2,764 0.10
Ealing 84,383 0.32
East Cambridgeshire 1,267 0.02
East Devon 24,602 0.21
East Dorset (Wimborne) 20,219 0.26
East Hertfordshire 25,295 0.22
East Kilbride 3,653 0.04
East Kilbride (DC) 32,748 3—
Eastleigh 35,494 0.34
East Lothian 50,649 0.60
Eastwood 7,383 0.12
East Yorkshire 38,066 0.45
Eden 1,509 0.03
Edinburgh 229,339 0.55

Local authority Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
Ellesmere Port 24,157 0.31
Elmbridge 65,740 0.60
Epping Forest 3,013 0.03
Epsom and Ewell 16,555 0.25
Erewash 3,683 0.04
Etterick and Lauderdale 17,787 0.52
Falkirk 72,854 0.52
Forest Heath 21,871 0.38
Forest of Dean 5,285 0.07
Gedling 11,099 0.10
Gillingham 8,605 0.09
Glanford 1— —
Glasgow 777,683 1.17
Glenrothes 31,516 3—
Gloucester 4,995 0.05
Glyndwr 1,246 0.03
Gordon 15,444 0.20
Gosport 54,349 0.75
Great Yarmouth 9,432 0.11
Guildford 9,672 0.08
Hackney 127,507 0.78
Halton 1— —
Hamilton 405,806 3.86
Hammersmith 92,884 0.68
Harborough 5,950 0.09
Harlow 1— —
Harrow 45,752 0.24
Hart 20,344 0.26
Hartlepool 25,916 0.29
Hereford 18,847 0.38
Hertsmere 27,998 0.33
High Peak 4,087 0.05
Hillingdon 78,211 0.35
Hinckley & Bosworth 16,744 0.18
Horsham 3,496 0.03
Hounslow 55,386 0.29
Hove 47,913 0.58
Huntingdon 6,043 0.04
Hyndburn 1— —
Inverclyde 1— —
Inverness 1— —
Ipswich 51,152 0.44
Irvine (DC) 10,124 3—
Isles of Scilly 1— —
Islington 17,349 0.11
Islwyn 16,482 0.25
Kennet 637 0.01
Kilmarnock 41,484 0.52
Kincardine and Deeside 17,853 0.33
Kingswood 4,748 0.05
Kirklees 210,785 0.57
Kyle and Carrick 5,552 0.05
Lambeth 1— —
Lancaster 35,705 0.28
Langbaurgh 12,890 0.09
Leicester 1— —
Lewes 15,030 0.18
Lewisham 138,665 0.64
Lichfield 1— —
Liverpool 223,418 0.50
Livingston (DC) 26,245 3—
Llanelli 4,166 0.06
Lochaber 6,392 0.33
Luton 6,907 0.04
Macclesfield 50,084 0.34
Maidstone 59,698 0.45
Maldon 29,749 0.59
Mansfield 3,039 0.03
Medina 68,524 0.98
Melton 3,480 0.08
Mendip 41,437 0.43
Merton 144,047 0.89
Mid Bedfordshire 22,442 0.21
Midlothian 34,265 0.43
Mid Suffolk 15,096 0.20
Mid Sussex 17,225 0.15

Local authority Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
Milton Keynes 7,584 0.04
Mole Valley 50,617 0.65
Monklands 1— —
Montgomery 5,927 2—
Moray 29,847 0.36
Motherwell 76,749 0.54
Nairn 8,818 0.83
Neath 5,269 0.08
Newark 15,519 0.15
Newbury 32,362 0.24
Newcastle under Lyme 27,219 0.23
Newham 123,361 0.62
Nithsdale 25,720 0.45
Northampton 86,150 0.48
Northavon 17,234 0.13
North Bedfordshire 1— —
North Cornwall 7,713 0.10
North East Derby 12,530 0.13
North East Fife 24,608 0.37
North Hertfordshire 45,744 0.42
North Kesteven 4,070 0.05
North Shropshire 11,875 0.23
North Tyneside 137,017 0.73
North Warwickshire 1— —
North West Leicestershire 2,293 0.03
North Wiltshire 40,928 0.37
Nottingham 219,914 0.84
Nuneaton 32,948 0.29
Oadby and Wigston 13,400 0.26
Ogwr 47,574 0.36
Orkney 4,035 0.21
Perth and Kinross 48,030 0.39
Peterborough 14,424 0.10
Plymouth 43,840 0.18
Purbeck 5,511 0.13
Radnor 1,268 2—
Redbridge 61,067 0.28
Redditch 27,011 0.35
Reigate and Banstead 72,856 0.63
Renfrew 150,442 0.76
Rhuddlan 30,230 0.56
Richmondshire 3,035 0.07
Richmond upon Thames 41,868 0.27
Rochester on Medway 45,906 0.32
Rochford 12,278 0.17
Ross and Cromarty 24,776 0.50
Rossendale 35,112 0.55
Rother 14,491 0.18
Roxborough 21,136 0.60
Rugby 2,917 0.04
Runnymede 37,896 0.53
Rushcliffe 4,751 0.05
Rushmoor 22,402 0.28
Rutland 9,360 0.29
Ryedale 11,873 0.13
Salford 247,222 1.13
Sandwell 181,950 0.65
Scottish Homes 243,237 3—
Scunthorpe 1— —
Sedgefield 2,778 0.03
Sefton 146,667 0.52
Selby 26,854 0.30
Sevenoaks 22,104 0.21
Shetland 6,272 0.28
Skye & Lochalsh 1,570 0.13
Slough 45,271 0.46
Solihull 69,864 0.36
South Bedfordshire 7,319 0.07
South Buckinghamshire 5,138 0.09
South Cambridgeshire 37,222 0.32
South Derbyshire 579 0.01
Southend on Sea 90,120 0.59
South Herefordshire 6,091 0.12
South Holland 26,422 0.40
South Lakeland 26,107 0.26
South Northamptonshire 12,582 0.18

Local authority Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
South Oxfordshire 5,449 0.04
South Ribble 34,609 0.35
South Shropshire 4,686 0.12
South Staffordshire 21,041 0.20
South Tyneside 23,794 0.16
Southwark 14,858 0.08
South Wight 39,074 0.69
Spelthorne 53,744 0.62
Staffs Moorlands 15,164 0.16
St. Albans 24,326 0.20
Stewartry 9,888 0.42
St. Helens 124,627 0.71
Stirling 43,968 0.56
Stockport 1— —
Stoke on Trent 9,638 0.04
Stratford on Avon 26,650 0.26
Strathkelvin 21,909 0.26
Stroud 26,411 0.24
Suffolk Coastal 1,366 0.01
Surrey Heath 28,227 0.36
Sutherland 4,065 0.31
Sutton 26,980 0.16
Swale 29,935 0.26
Tameside 151,136 0.71
Tamworth 49,129 0.71
Tandridge 22,896 0.31
Tendring 52,723 0.42
Test Valley 40,041 0.40
Tewkesbury 20,229 0.23
Thanet 1— —
The Wrekin 1— —
Three Rivers 30,366 0.41
Tower Hamlets 3,248 0.02
Trafford 42,529 0.21
Tweeddale 3,555 0.23
Vale of White Horse 21,579 0.20
Wakefield 7,297 0.02
Walsall 15,306 0.06
Waltham Forest 104,801 0.52
Wandsworth 40,348 0.17
Wansbeck 4,147 0.07
Wansdyke 1— —
Watford 6,896 0.10
Waverley 1— —
Welwyn Hatfield 32,306 0.35
Western Isles 26,518 0.90
West Lothian 36,140 0.25
Westminster 40,190 0.22
West Oxfordshire 10,629 0.12
West Wiltshire 50,309 0.48
Wigtown 1— —
Winchester 27,308 0.29
Windsor and Maidenhead 1— —
Wirral 157,414 0.49
Working 40,761 0.49
Workingham 5,237 0.04
Wolverhampton 124,899 0.52
Woodspring 4,213 0.02
Worthing 18,470 0.20
Wycombe 75,965 0.49

Local authorities which operate a total disregard scheme in housing benefit for war disablement pension only
Local authorities Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
Bath 14,968 0.19
Blaby 2,706 0.03
Blackburn 68,617 0.52
Bolton 60,587 0.24
Bromley 53,819 0.19
Bury 37,167 0.22
Cambridge 26,972 0.27

Local Authorities Cost of scheme £ Annual per capita cost £
Corby 1— —
Doncaster 39,852 0.14
Dudley 93,332 0.31
East Staffordshire 15,267 0.16
Exeter 22,599 0.22
Grimsby 253 0.00
Hambleton 10,470 0.13
Havering 5,588 0.02
Middlesbrough 13,641 0.10
Newport 25,354 0.20
Oldham 27,343 0.13
Ribble Valley 2,647 0.05
Southampton 8,017 0.04
South Somerset 54,011 0.39
Stevenage 19,761 0.27
Stockton on Tees 6,386 0.04
Torbay 31,912 0.26
Torfaen 16,341 0.19
Tunbridge Wells 1— —
Vale Royal 31,663 0.29
York 1,429 0.01

Local authorities which operate a total disregard scheme in housing benefit for war widow's pension only
Local authority Cost of scheme (£) Annual per capita cost (£)
Castle Morpeth 1— —
Chester 14,267 0.12
Kirkcaldy 108,432 1.62
Monmouth 20,455 0.27
Thurrock 1— —
1 Denotes details of cost of scheme not provided By Local authority.
2 Denotes per capita cost calculation not possible because Ceredigion, Radnor and Montgomery include some areas where housing benefit is administered by the Development Board for Rural Wales.
3 Denotes per capita cost calculation not possible because 1991 census figures are not yet available.

Local authorities which do not operate a total disregard scheme in housing benefit for either war disablement or war widows' pension

  • Adur
  • Allerdale
  • Alnwick
  • Alyn and Deeside
  • Aylesbury Vale
  • Babergh
  • Barking
  • Barnet
  • Barnsley
  • Barrow in Furness
  • Basildon
  • Basildon (DC)
  • Berwick upon Tweed
  • Beverley
  • Bexley
  • Blythe Valley
  • Bolsover
  • Boothferry
  • Bournemouth
  • Breckland
  • Brecknock
  • Bridgnorth
  • Bristol
    • 311
  • Broadland
  • Bromsgrove
  • Camden
  • Canterbury
  • Caradon
  • Carmarthen
  • Chester le Street
  • Chichester
  • Chorley
  • City of London
  • Cleethorpes
  • Colchester
  • Corby New Town
  • Crawley
  • Croydon
  • Cynon Valley
  • Darlington
  • Derby
  • Derbyshire Dales
  • Derwentside
  • Dinefwr
  • Dover
  • Durham
  • Easington
  • Eastbourne
  • East Hampshire
  • East Lindsey
  • East Northampton
  • Enfield
  • Fareham
  • Fenland
  • Fylde
  • Gateshead
  • Gravesham
  • Greenwich
  • Haringey
  • Harrogate
  • Hastings
  • Havant
  • Holderness
  • Kensington and Chelsea
  • Kerrier
  • Kettering
  • Kingston upon Hull
  • Kingston upon Thames
  • Knowsley
  • Leeds
  • Leominster
  • Lincoln
  • Lliw Valley
  • Malvern Hills
  • Manchester
  • Meirionnydd
  • Merthyr Tydfil
  • Mid Devon
  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • New Forest
  • North Devon
  • North Dorset
  • North Norfolk
  • Norwich
  • Oswestry
  • Oxford
  • Pendle
  • Penwith
  • Poole
    • 312
  • Portsmouth
  • Port Talbot
  • Preseli
  • Preston
  • Reading
  • Restormel
  • Rhondda
  • Rhymney Valley
  • Rochdale
  • Rotherham
  • Rural Wales
  • Salisbury
  • Scarborough
  • Sedgemoor
  • Sheffield
  • Shepway
  • Shrewsbury and Atcham
  • South Hams
  • South Kesteven
  • South Norfolk
  • South Pembrokeshire
  • Stafford
  • St. Edmundsbury
  • Sunderland
  • Swansea
  • Taff-Ely
  • Taunton Deane
  • Teesdale
  • Teignbridge
  • Telford
  • Thamesdown
  • Tonbridge and Malling
  • Torridge
  • Tynedale
  • Uttlesford
  • Vale of Glamorgan
  • Warrington
  • Warrington DC
  • Warwick
  • Waveney
  • Wealden
  • Wear Valley
  • Wellingborough
  • West Devon
  • West Dorset
  • West Lancashire
  • West Lindsey
  • West Norfolk
  • West Somerset
  • Weymouth and Portland
  • Wigan
  • Worcester
  • Wrexham Maelor
  • Wychavon
  • Wyre
  • Wyre Forest
  • Ynys Môn

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