Claimant Numbers (Hansard, 11 February 1997)

§ Mr. Andrew Mitchell

I have been asked to reply.

The administration of child benefit and the Christmas bonus is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

141W

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Barry Jones, dated 6 February 1997: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking how many families in Wales draw Child Benefit and how many pensioners in Wales received the Christmas Bonus. At 30 September 1996 there were 350,000 families in Wales in receipt of Child Benefit. This figure is based on a one percent sample of the Child Benefit computer system, rounded to the nearest thousand and excludes late notifications of children returning to full time education. To receive payment of the Christmas Bonus, a pensioner must be entitled to one of the following benefits for a period which includes a day in a prescribed week in December:- 'Retirement Pension (RP), Income Support (for those over state pension age), Widows Pension (WP), Incapacity Benefit Long Term (IBLT), Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Invalid Care Allowance (ICA), Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA), and War Widows' Pensions'. Beneficiaries may receive a second payment for their partner if they are both over state pensionable age and they are entitled to an increase to the qualifying benefit for that person. At 31 March 1996 there were approximately 533,000 people in Wales in receipt of RP. At 24 February 1996 there were approximately 14,000 pensioners, including partners, in receipt of Income Support in Wales. This figure includes claims where a partner of a customer is a pensioner, but the customer is not, and the partner has no qualification for the christmas bonus. These figures are based on five per cent samples. At 31 March 1996 there were 3000 pensioners in receipt of WP and at 31 August 1996 there were 23,000 pensioners in receipt of IBLT, in Wales. The number of pensioners in receipt of AA, DLA, ICA, SDA and War Widows Pension could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Figures are given for the latest dates available and are rounded to the nearest thousand. I hope you find this reply helpful.