§ Mr. Alan HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of(a) the changes in Government expenditure and (b) the number of people who will be affected by the proposals to change (i) rules on backdating claims, (ii) waiting days for the jobseeker's allowance, (iii) rules for war pensioners, (iv) disability living allowance claims from people between 65 and 66 years, (v) housing benefit, (vi) council tax benefit, (vii) lone parents' benefits and (viii) increases to non-dependant deductions. [8868]
§ Mr. BurtThe information is in the tables:
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Changes to central Government expenditure £ million 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 (i) Rules on back-dating claims -90 -120 -135 (ii) Waiting days for jobseeker's allowance 0 0 -65 (iii) Rules for war pensioners -5 -10 -15 (iv) Disability Living Allowance 0 -20 -45 (v) Housing benefit -10 -60 -90 (vi) Council tax benefit 0 -15 -15 (vii) Lone parents' benefits 0 -60 -135
Changes to central Government expenditure £ million 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 (viii) Increases to non-dependent deductions -45 -45 -50 1. Figures shown are net savings to social security expenditure.
2. Savings are rounded to the nearest £5 million.
3. Savings from these measures included in Departmental plan.
Numbers of people affected by the changes Thousand 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 (i) Rules on back-dating claims 390 435 465 (ii) Waiting days for jobseeker's allowance 0 0 1,900 (iii) Rules for war pensioners 20 20 20 (iv) Disability living allowance 0 10 25 (v) Housing benefit 90 275 370 (vii) Council tax benefit 0 65 65 (vii) Lone parents' benefits One parent benefit 0 80 150 Income support 0 270 450 Housing benefit 0 55 105 Council tax benefit 0 45 85 (viii) Increases to non-dependent deductions 495 495 495 Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5,000, except for jobseeker's allowance, where they are rounded to the nearest 100,000.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the impact of recent benefit changes on the workload of the Benefits Agency. [9308]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThis is an operational matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 16 December 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if he will make a statement on the impact of recent benefit changes on the workload of the Benefits Agency (BA).There have been three main priorities for the BA in 1996/97, the delivery of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Incapacity Benefit (IB), continuing our main business of calculating and paying benefits to safeguard benefit spending, and beginning the process of restructuring our business for the future to meet the challenge of the Department's Change Programme.759WThe introduction of JSA and IB have been massive and complex undertakings requiring a great deal of planning and effort. The new benefits bring with them new computer systems, procedures, forms and regulations that have inevitably added to the Agency's workload. Since the introduction of JSA on 7 October 1996 the continued effort and commitment of my staff and those of our colleagues in Employment Services in bedding-in the changes and stabilising the benefit delivery processes has been considerable. Where it has proved necessary to ensure the successful delivery of these projects, additional resources have been made available.The BA vision still remains to pay the right benefit, to the right person, at the right time, every time. Service to the public and the delivery of all other benefits has been and will be maintained.I hope you find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what basis the figures for cases and savings projected in his press release on proposed housing benefit and council tax benefit changes 96/265 were calculated; and what estimate he has made of the geographical distribution of(a) the single people under 60 years who are private sector housing benefit claimants and (b) the band F or higher council tax claimants. [8512]
§ Mr. EvansThe information is set out in the table:
Geographical distribution of single housing benefit recipients aged under 60 without children Region Caseload (000s) North 14 Yorkshire and Humberside 25 East Midlands 19 East Anglia 11 South East 150 Greater London 93 Rest of South East 57 South West 38 West Midlands 19 North West 46 Wales 20 Scotland 25 Total 366 Source:
HBMIS annual 1 per cent. sample enquiries with and without income support taken at the end of May 1995.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, therefore component parts may not sum.
2. Information refers to deregulated tenants only.
3. Estimates for Housing Benefit are based upon the May 1994 HBMIS and Rent Officer data for the first quarter of 1996.
4. All figures have been uprated to the Public Expenditure Survey (PES) years using the Departmental Forecasting Report.
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Geographical distribution of band F or higher council tax claimants Region Caseloads (000s) Band F Band G Band H All North 1 0 0 1 Yorkshire and Humberside 1 0 0 1 East Midlands 1 1 0 2 East Anglia 1 0 0 2 South East outside London 10 4 0 14 Greater London 16 9 1 26 South West 4 1 0 5 West Midlands 1 1 0 2 North West 1 1 0 2
Geographical distribution of band F or higher council tax claimants Region Caseloads (000s) Band F Band G Band H All Wales 2 0 0 2 Scotland 5 2 0 7 Total 42 20 0 63 Source:
HBMIS annual 1 per cent. enquiries with and without income support taken at the end of May 1995.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, therefore component parts may not sum.
2. A "O" does not necessarily indicate that there are no cases, merely that the rounding is to zero.