§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of people claiming incapacity benefit(a) are currently subject to the age ruling and (b) have had income support withdrawn as a result of the age ruling. [16281]
§ Mr. BurtEntitlement to incapacity benefit ceases when a person reaches state pension age, that is, age 65 for men and age 60 for women, with the exception that a person who had attained SPA and was in receipt of invalidity benefit on 13 April 1995 has the right to retain entitlement for up to five years beyond SPA.
In the current year, 1995–96, to the end of February, approximately 23,000 claimants, around 1 per cent. of the incapacity benefit case load, had transferred to retirement pension. Information on the income support entitlement of this group is not available. However, the benefit structure is such that a person would not become disentitled to income support solely because of transfer from incapacity benefit to retirement pension.