Disability Working Allowance

HC Deb 24 November 1995 vol 267 cc357-8W

Mr. Bradley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of(a) the numbers of new claimants and (b) the cost of reducing the disability working allowance taper from 70 per cent. to (i) 60 per cent., (ii) 50 per cent. and (iii) 30 per cent. [1751]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell

The estimated effects of changes in the disability working allowance taper are given in the table. The costs are given in 1995–96 prices rounded to the nearest £1 million, and are net of housing benefit and council tax benefit offsets. The numbers of new DWA claimants are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

Disability working allowance	60 per cent. taper	50 per cent. taper	30 per cent. taper
New claimants	1,000	2,000	7,000
Net cost £ million	1	4	14

Source:

Family Expenditure Surveys of 1991, 1992 and 1993.

Disability Working Allowance Statistics Quarterly Enquiry January 1995.

The use of proxy groups means that the estimates are subject to wide margins of error. They will be accurate only to the extent that the proxy groups have the same characteristics as those eligible for DWA.