§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 12 July,Official Report column 621, if he will provide such monthly (a) regional, (b) territory and (c) district information as is available since April 1993 on severe hardship. [35514]
§ Mr. Roger EvansSuch information as is available from the Benefits Agency has been placed in the Library. However, the data are provisional and subject to amendment.
§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the number of recipients of income support who were subject to direct payments from income support in 1994–95 and in each of the five preceding years, listing the type of payment and relating each category of payment to the percentage of the total number of recipients of income support; [35242]
(2) what was the number of recipients of income support who were subject to deductions from benefit in 1994–95 and in each of the five preceding years, listing the reason for the deduction and relating each category of deduction to the percentage of the total number of recipients of income support. [35243]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe information requested is in the tables.
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Type of deduction 1989 (percentage of all claimants) 1990 (percentage of all claimants) 1991 (percentage of all claimants) 1992 (percentage of all claimants) 1993 (percentage of all claimants) 1994 (percentage of all claimants) Current charges only — — — 18,000 (0.4) 10,000(0.17) 13,000 (0.22) Including arrears — — — 84,000(1.6) 100,000(1.79) 148,000 (2.61) Board and lodging (including RC/NH/hostels)7 12,000 (0.28) — — — — — Other deductions8 9,000 (0.22) 1,000(0.03) 3,000 (0.07) 3,000(0.1) 4,000 (0.07) — Notes:
Deductions from Income Support are of two kinds: direct payment to third parties like the utility companies and deductions for social fund and overpayment recovery.
1 For 1989 and 1990 includes service charges for fuel and water included in rent.
2 Community charge not introduced until 1991—separated on data sets from 1992 by higher and lower rates.
3 Council tax not collected until 1994.
4 Fines recovery not collected prior to 1994.
5 Social fund recovery data not available for 1993.
6 Child support not introduced until 1994.
7 Board and lodging deductions no longer made from 1990 onwards.
8Other deductions "—" less than 1000 cases for 1994.
9 Figures shown are for May each year. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
10 Deductions for electricity, gas, mortgage interest, other housing costs were not separated prior to 1992.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Annual and Quarterly Enquiries.
§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total number of recipients of income support who were subject to more than one of deductions from benefit, excluding mortgage interest payments, in 1994–95 and in each of the five preceding years; if he give a breakdown of the total number of
Income support recipients with one or more deductions (excluding mortgage interest) Number of Deductions 2 3 4 5 or more All cases 1989 Claimants with more than 1 deduction 119,000 38,000 6,000 1,000 163,000 Average deduction £13.05 £17.24 £20.65 £25.32 £14.34 1990 Claimants with more than 1 deduction 107,000 38,000 8,000 1,000 153,000 Average deduction £12.56 £17.41 £21.09 £22.63 £14.25 1991 Claimants with more than 1 deduction 132,000 50,000 12,000 2,000 196,000 Average deduction £12.42 £18.27 £23.20 £26.05 £14.71 1992 Claimants with more than 1 deduction 209,000 87,000 27,000 3,000 325,000 Average deduction £11.51 £18.05 £23.48 £29.86 £14.41 1993 Claimants with more than 1 deduction 237,000 91,000 29,000 5,000 363,000 Average deduction £10.80 £16.77 £22.99 £27.27 £13.53 1994 Claimants with more than 1 deduction 302,000 126,000 38,000 7,000 472,000 Average deduction £10.88 £17.42 £22.29 £26.82 £13.77 Notes:
Figures shown are for May each year. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Annual and Quarterly Enquiries.