§ Mr. AshdownTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, how many applications for income support were made by 16 and 17 year-olds in south Somerset during 1992; how many of these applications were refused; and on what grounds.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Paddy Ashdown, dated 15 January 1993
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many applications for Income Support were made by 16 and 17 year olds in South Somerset during 1992; how many of these applications were refused; and on what grounds.The complete range of information you requested is not fully available except at disproportionate cost. This is because the reasons for refusal of benefit are not routinely collected and could he obtained only by examining individually each claim where benefit was refused.The information I have outlined below is for offices in Taunton, Yeovil and Bridgwater which make up the Benefits Agency Somerset District. The total applications received will include some made under the severe hardship provisions.
Applications from 16 and 17 year olds January—December 1992 Total received Awarded Refused 1,179 991 188 I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.
§ Mrs. MahonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will amend social security regulations so that the lower rate of incomes support is only applicable to those aged 18 to 24 years who live with their parents.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of increasing the level of income support personal allowances for claimants under the age of 25 years to the rate of allowances currently paid to claimants over the age of 25 years.
§ Mr. BurtThe estimated cost of increasing the rate of income support for single claimants under 25 years to that payable to those aged 25 and over is £460 million in a full year. This figure includes the consequential increases in housing benefit and community charge benefit.
Notes:
1. The figure is rounded to the nearest £10 million.
2. Modelled at 1992–93 prices and benefit levels using data drawn from the 1987–88–89 Family Expenditure Surveys, the 1991 Annual Statistical Enquiry, the 1991 Labour Force Survey and the May 1991 estimate of the Youth Training caseload.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will review the current levels of personal allowances payable to income support claimants under the age of 25 years.
§ Mr. BurtIncome-related benefits are under continuous review. We have no plans to amend the under 25 rate of income support.
103W
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will make a statement on the reason for freezing the income support payments for the terminally ill in residential homes for the financial year 1993–94;
(2) if he will list (a) the value of income support payments payable to the terminally ill in residential homes at the date when it was first introduced, (b) the current value and (c) the value recently fixed for 1993, at constant 1992 prices, together with the equivalent figures valorised to take account of rises in the retail price index since the year the terminally ill payment was introduced:
(3) if he will estimate the annual additional money it would cost to uprate the terminally ill income support grant in 1993 by the same amount as the retail prices index.
§ Mr. BurtThe terminal illness limit was intended to meet the costs of the extra care provided to people who are terminally ill. However, the limit can also be paid where an adjudication officer is satisfied that a home is able to provide this type of care and the claimant is receiving it regardless of the nature of their condition. As a consequence the limit is often helping those who are not terminally ill within the accepted definition of this term.
The real values of the maximum payments to people claiming the terminal illness limit in nursing homes under the supplementary benefit and income support schemes, in constant April 1992 prices, are:
- (a) at the time the system of national limits was introduced in April 1985, £291;
- (b) at the last uprating in April 1992, £280.
Corresponding figures for the value in April 1993 cannot be calculated until the RPI for April 1993 becomes available.
Had the terminally ill limit been uprated by the same amount as the retail price index, it is estimated that would have cost of the order of £15 million to £20 million in 1993–94. This estimate is subject to considerable uncertainly because of difficulties in projecting reliably the number of people claiming the terminally ill limit, following the introduction of the new arrangements for those entering homes from April 1993.
We considered that an increase to this limit was not the best use of resources which could be better directed at the other income support limits. It was the policy intention to remove the differential between this limit and the basic elderly limit.
From April 1993 responsibility for all patients in hospices falls to the national health service. Funds have been transferred to the national health service as part of the community care package for this new responsibility. In addition £1 million has been transferred from the Social Security budget to the Department of Health for 1993–94 to ensure additional funds are directed specifically to those who are terminally ill. This is an addition to the £1 million transferred for each of the three survey years that was announced the previous year.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will commission research to investigate the adequacy of income support available to claimants under the age of 25 years.
§ Mr. BurtThere is already a wide range of published information which bears on this issue. We have no plans to commission any further research.