HC Deb 27 February 1996 vol 272 cc520-1W
Mr. Chris Davies

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals are currently in receipt of payments from the Benefits Agency. [15432]

Mr. Roger Evans

This administration of benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Chris Davies, dated 26 February 1996: The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many individuals are currently in receipt of payments from the Benefits Agency. The information is not available in the form requested as a customer may be in receipt of more than one benefit at any time. Annex A gives details of the number of recipients of the different benefits, administered by the BA. This information which is updated annually is available in the Library. I hope you find this reply helpful.

Annex A: Benefits Agency benefit recipients
Benefit Number of recipients (thousands)
Attendance Allowance 1,050
Child Benefit 7,000
Disability Living Allowance 1,512
Disability Working Allowance 5
Family Credit 602
Income Support 5,751
Invalidity Benefit 1,857
Invalid Care Allowance 285
Industrial Death Benefit 21
Industrial Disablement Benefit 223
Maternity Allowance 15
Non-Contributory Retirement Pension 27
One Parent Benefit 949
Reduced Earnings Allowance/RA 151
Retirement Pension 10,149
Severe Disability Allowance 342
Sickness Benefit 141
Widows Benefit 290

Notes:

1. Figures are provisional and subject to change.

2. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

3. Some people receive more than one benefit and the extent of the overlap cannot easily be quantified.

4. The information has been provided for the year 1994–95, with the exception of Industrial Disablement Benefit, Reduced Earnings Allowance/RA which is 1993–94.

5. Information in this table has been collected in March each year, with the following exceptions: Income Support in February; Sickness Benefit, Invalidity Benefit, Severe Disability Allowance. Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and Reduced Earnings Allowance/RA in March/April and Industrial Death Benefit in December.

6. Invalidity Benefit and Sickness Benefit were replaced by Incapacity Benefit from 13 April 1995.

Source

Analytical Services Division of DSS.