§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide details of the changes he plans to make to the medical control procedures applied to invalidity benefit announced in his autumn statement; and if he will provide details of how he expects to achieve his estimate of £240 million savings and to specify the numbers of people expected to have their invalidity benefit withdrawn as a result of these changes.
§ Mr. ScottThe changes which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 12 November 1992 are intended to streamline the medical control procedures which already apply to all incapacity benefit claims. People invited to medical examinations will be given more notice, asked to tell us if they cannot attend, and warned that failure to do so without good cause will result in loss of benefit. Improved reports by examining doctors will reduce the number of people who need to be examined more than once; enabling them to deal with more of the cases referred for control action. In the first year, we estimate that some 80,000 people who no longer satisfy the entitlement conditions will be identified earlier than under the existing arrangements.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will express the average income of single people and couples in receipt of invalidity benefit as a percentage of average income of equivalent household units in the country.
§ Mr. ScottThe information in the table is based on the estimates for 1988–89, the two calendar years combined.
Per cent. Income before housing costs Income after housing costs Singles 70 69 Couples 76 79 Note:
The estimates are based on Family Expenditure Survey data from the ?Households Below Average Income? series.