HC Deb 16 October 1996 vol 282 cc1018-21W
Ms Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total benefit expenditure on lone parents whose youngest child is over five years old. [41017]

Mr. Burt

Benefit expenditure on lone parents whose youngest child is over five years, for the main benefits paid to lone parents, has been estimated using departmental data and is set out in the table.

£ million
Year 1995–96
One parent benefit 209
Family credit 491
Child benefit 810
Housing and council tax benefits 1,950
Income support 1,881
Total benefit 5,341

Source:

Family Resources Survey and various Analytical Services Division sample data.

Ms Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the benefit bill for(a) income support, (b) family credit, (c) housing benefit, (d) council tax benefit, (e) one parent benefit and (f) lone-parent premium for lone parents by English region. [41027]

Mr. Burt

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available in the tables.

Information for 1995–96 for (a), (c) and (d) is shown in table 1 and for (b) is shown in table 2.

Expenditure by region for one-parent benefit and lone parent premium is not available.

Components of a benefit award cannot be separately identified. The lone-parent premium is payable with income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit. The income support lone-parent premium was worth £5.20 in April 1995. This would give implied expenditure in England for 1995–96 of £243 million for income support.

The equivalent amounts for housing benefit and council tax benefit, excluding income support recipients, are £61 million and £57 million.

However, some recipients will receive an overall amount of benefit which is less than the value of the premium.

Table 1
Region Income support Housing benefit Council tax benefit
East Anglia 116 65 10
East Midlands 260 130 25
North 247 126 25
North West 569 295 58
South East 1,416 983 132
South West 274 169 26
West Midlands 381 186 33
Yorkshire and Humberside 352 166 32
All regions 3,614 2,119 342
Table 2
Region Family credit
North Eastern 143
London North 78
Wales and South Western 100
Midlands 130
North Western 132
London South 74
All regions 657

Notes:

1. Information on income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit is provided by standard statistical region. Information on family credit is only available by social security administrative region.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.

Sources:

1. Total expenditure figures are consistent with the 1996 Departmental Report.

2. Housing benefit and council tax benefit figures are estimates derived from the annual 1 per cent. housing benefit sample enquiry.

3. Income support figures are estimates derived from the income support statistical enquiry May 1995 (5 per cent. sample). Family credit figures are derived from the family credit statistical sample (5 per cent. sample). Expenditure has been calculated from average weekly payments and Number of claimants.

4. A recent costing suggests that relatively few lone parents receive benefit less than the value of the premium.

Ms Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the definition of availability for work for lone parents. [41015]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell

Lone parents with children aged under 16 may receive income support without being required to be available for work. However, they have full access to Employment Service advice and assistance if they wish to seek work. Lone parents if they choose may claim jobseeker's allowance at any time, rather than income support, but once their youngest child is aged 16 or over they may claim only jobseeker's allowance and must be available for work.

Lone parents who claim JSA must be willing and able to accept a job offer given 48 hours' notice. They may restrict their availability for employment provided that they are available for the maximum hours that their responsibility for the care of their children allows; that they retain reasonable prospects of securing employment despite their restrictions; and that they are available for a minimum of 16 hours a week.

Ms Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of lone-parent families received income support in each of the last 10 years. [41021]

Mr. Burt

The information requested is set out in the table:

Number of Income Support Lone Parents
Year Number of cases Percentage of lone parent population
1986 575,000 62
1987 629,000 64
1988 694,000 66
1989 756,000 67
1990 793,000 65
1991 871,000 66
1992 957,000 68
1993 1,013,000 68
1994 1,039,000 66
1995 1,056,000 64

Notes:

1. Lone parents are defined as those receiving the lone parent premium.

2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

Sources:

1. Supplementary Benefit/Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries 1986–93.

2. Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiries May 1994 and May 1995.

3. Lone Parent population data are based on DSS estimates from General Household Survey.

Miss Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total benefit expenditure on lone parents in each of the last 10 years; and what it is estimated to be in the current year. [41022]

Mr. Burt

The information is set out in the table.

£ million
Year Lone parents
1986–87 2,659
1987–88 2,972
1988–89 3,542
1989–90 3,961
1990–91 4,680
1991–92 5,728
1992–93 7,107
1993–94 8,124
1994–95 8,884
1994–95 9,510
1995–96 9,871

Source:

March 1996 Departmental Report and earlier equivalents.

Notes:

1. Outturn figures from 1986–87 to 1994–95, estimated outturn for 1995–96 and planned figure for 1996–97.

2. Expenditure is classified by beneficiary group according to the main reason a benefit is paid.

3. The benefits included in lone parent expenditure are:

Child Benefit; One Parent Benefit; Family Credit/Family Income Supplement, Housing Benefit and Council Tax/Community Charge Benefit.