§ Ms HarmanTo 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. BurtBenefit 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 HarmanTo 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. BurtThe 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.
1019WThe 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 HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the definition of availability for work for lone parents. [41015]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellLone 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 1020W 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 HarmanTo 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. BurtThe 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 HarmanTo 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. BurtThe 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.
1021W