HC Deb 30 October 1996 vol 284 cc159-60W
Mr. Alan Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the numbers of people who have received a voluntary unemployment deduction in the current financial year; and what is the total amount of money deducted. [416]

Mr. Roger Evans

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

As at November 1995 it is estimated that some 30,000 income support claimants had a deduction from their income support payment for voluntary unemployment. The estimated average amount being deducted was £16.08 per week which equates to £25.3 million per year.

Notes:

  1. 1. Rates of deduction for voluntary unemployment are at 20 per cent. or 40 per cent. of the personal allowance.
  2. 2 Sample size 5 per cent.
  3. 3. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
  4. 4. The average amount deducted for voluntary unemployment was estimated using the deduction amount recorded on the income support computer system.
  5. 5. In a small number of cases, the amount to be deducted was greater than the award of income support. In such cases the latter was used as the "actual" amount deducted.
  6. 6. The total amount of money deducted was estimated by multiplying the average weekly deduction by the number of cases with a deduction by 52. This figure was then rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.

Source: Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry November 1995.