§ Mr. TimmsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what basis in his answer of 3 November 1994 to the hon. Member for Bow and Poplar (Ms Gordon),Official Report, column 1369, the estimate of the annual income support saving from the habitual residence test was arrived at;
(2) if the estimated cost of administering the habitual residence test from 1 August 1994 to 1 August 1995 mentioned in his answer to the hon. Member for Bow and Popular (Ms Gordon) of 3 November 1994, Official Report, column 1369, included the £800,000 allocation referred to by the chief executive of the Benefits Agency in his answer of 12 December 1994 to the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) Official Report, column 538.
706W
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe estimated income support savings were based on the assumption that at least 5,000 single claimants aged 25 and over receiving benefit for 13 weeks would not qualify because of the habitual residence test. This calculation leads to a saving of about £3 million rather than "excess of £7 million" incorrectly stated in the earlier answer, which represented the estimated full savings including housing benefit and council tax benefit.
Before the test was introduced, initial annual administrative costs for the period 1 August 1994 to I August 1995 were estimated to be £368,000. Management information has since identified a shortfall for the current financial year. This is because the numbers subject to the test were greater than initially projected. On 21 November 1994 a secondary allocation of £521,787 was made. The figure quoted in the Official Report of 12 December 1994, column 538, was the rounded, estimated administrative costs of the Benefits Agency for 1994–95. The actual figure will be available shortly. On the current level of claims being processed, the eventual costs for 1994–95 are likely to be substantially higher than £800,000.