Standard Spending Assessment (Hansard, 22 January 1997)

§ Mr. Rooker
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment for what reasons the month of August was chosen for the count of income support claimant case load for each local authority in order for his Department to work out the standard spending assessment levels; and what consideration was given to seeking the most representative month. [11945]

§ Sir Paul Beresford
The Benefits Agency carries out its annual count of claimants in August as a matter of managerial practicality. Similar counts for other months are not available.

§ Mr. Rooker
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many income support claimants his Department was unable to allocate to local authorities on a postcode basis used for the standard spending assessment calculations; and how these claimants were finally taken into account. [11943]

§ Sir Paul Beresford
For 98.5 per cent. of income support claimants, it is possible to allocate them to a local authority area by reference to a postcode. The assumption made in relation to the remaining 1.5 per cent. of claimants is that, within each benefit office, the distribution among local authorities of claimants whose postcode is unknown is in the same proportions as for claimants at the same benefit office whose postcode is known.

§ Mr. Rooker
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the expected benefits in moving from a sample count of income support claimants four times per year to a 100 per cent. count on one date for use in the standard spending assessment calculations; and how seasonality is taken into account in the change. [11948]

§ Sir Paul Beresford
We wish to base the standard spending assessments on the most reliable data available. We received representations from local government that the 100 per cent. count provided more reliable data than the quarterly 5 per cent. samples. The main advantage of a 100 per cent. count is its comprehensiveness, compared with the quarterly 5 per cent. samples. The advantages and disadvantages of both sources of data were discussed with the local authority associations. The data were also examined by the Office for National Statistics, which tested whether there were seasonal effects on the data. It advised that an adjustment should be made on this account in relation to a few authorities. Adjustments have been made in the light of its advice.