§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consultations she has had with representatives of the insurance industry concerning the treatment of payments under loan protection insurance policies for recipients of job seeker's allowance; what instructions she is issuing to Department of Social Security staff concerning these payments; and if she will make a statement. [38896]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyA series of meetings have been held between officials of this Department and representatives of the insurance and banking industries. In addition, there has been continued and close liaison between officials and officials of the Association of British Insurers and the British Bankers' Association. The Chief Adjudication Officer will be issuing guidance to adjudication officers on revised regulations, which are currently under statutory consultation and will be laid before the House shortly. The Benefits Agency also plans to issue a circular bringing the change to the attention of all staff handling Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support claims. Guidance will also be issued to Local Authorities, as the change will also apply to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will provide the figures in table 6 of her latest Departmental report for(a) contribution-based JSA, (b) income-based JSA and (c) income support separately for each client group, and identifying lone parents separately in each case. [38941]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out.
541WOf the 1,190 thousand recipients of income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) as of August 1997, 7,000 were receiving the pensioner premium, 17,000 were receiving the disability premium and 12,000 were receiving the family premium (lone parent).
No information is held on the numbers of lone parents receiving contribution-based JSA. 176,000 people were receiving contribution-based JSA in August 1997.