§ Professor WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals lived in benefit units receiving at least one means-tested benefit(a) in 1978–79 and (b) in the latest year for which figures are available; and if she will break down this total according to the combinations of benefits received.[4306]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyWe are committed to looking closely at all aspects of the welfare state to reduce the levels of poverty and welfare dependency.
Information for 1993–94 and for 1979 has been published in table B4 of Households Below Average Income (HBAI): 1979 to 1993–94, a copy of which is in the Library. No information is available for 1978. Information for 1979 is restricted to that published in HBAI.
418WAn indication of the numbers of beneficiaries of the main combinations of benefits at May 1995 is given in the table.
Beneficiaries of means-tested benefits for may 1995 by combinations of benefits received Combination of benefit Total beneficiaries Family credit or disability working allowance only 1,230,000 Income support only 2,370,000 Family credit or disability working allowance and income support 20,000 Housing benefit and/or council tax benefit only 3,190,000 Housing benefit and/or council tax benefit, and family credit or disability working allowance 780,000 Housing benefit and/or council tax benefit, and income support 7,230,000 Housing benefit and/or council tax benefit and family credit or disability working allowance and income support 80,000 All beneficiaries of means tested benefits 14,900,000 Notes:
1. Mean tested benefits are defined as income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit, family credit and disability working allowance.
2. Beneficiaries are defined as the recipient, their partner and their dependants.
3. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten thousand.
4. Income support figures include people in residential care/nursing homes.
Sources:
1. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry May 1995.
2. Family credit 5 per cent. sample of awards.
3. Disability working allowance 100 per cent. count of claims.
4. Housing benefit management information system, annual 1 per cent. sample enquiries, with and without income support taken at the end of May 1995.