§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many and what proportion of parents with care will receive less child maintenance under the formula for assessing maintenance proposed in the Green Paper on child maintenance than they do currently, broken down to show those receiving(a) income support, (b) family credit and (c) disability working allowance, separately identifying those receiving none of these benefits; [55579]
(2) how many and what proportion of parents with care will receive less child maintenance under the formula proposed in the Green Paper on child support than they do currently, broken down into those now receiving (a) under £5, (b) £5–£9.99, (c) £10–£19.99, (d) £20–£29.99, (e) £30–£39.99, (f) £40–£49.99, (g) £50–£59.99, (h) £60–£69.99, (i) £70–£79.99, (j) £80–£89.99, (k) £90–£99.99 and (l) £100 and above per week. [55587]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 19 October 1998]: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out.
This table does not include 170,000 parents with care receiving Income Support who will see an overall increase in their income because of the proposed £10 maintenance premium. We estimate also that the new simpler scheme will mean that at least an additional 200,000 parents with care receiving Income Support will be assessed to receive maintenance for the first time.
607W
Information relating to parents with care with a lower maintenance assessment Banded original maintenance assessment (£ per week) Caseload Proportion (per cent.) Under 5.00 * * 5.00–9.99 1,000 1 10.00–19.99 4,000 4 20.00–29.99 8,000 9 30.00–39.99 12,000 13
Information relating to parents with care with a lower maintenance assessments Banded original maintenance assessment (£ per week) Caseload Proportion (per cent.) 40.00–49.99 16,000 18 50.00–59.99 16,000 18 60.00–69.99 13,000 15 70.00–79.99 9,000 10 80.00–89.99 6,000 7 90.00–99.99 2,000 3 100 and over 3,000 3 All cases 90,000 100 Notes:
1.Estimates are based on the 97–98 caseload and current benefit rules and do not take account of, for example, the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit.
2.Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and percentages to the nearest percentage point. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
3.* denotes caseload of less than 500 or proportion of less than half of 1 per cent.
Of the 90,000 cases shown in the table 50,000 are receiving Family Credit where the reduction in maintenance could be offset by an increase in benefit. In the remaining 40,000 the parent with care is not in receipt of either Income Support or Family Credit. The number of parents with care receiving Disability Working Allowance is negligible.
Also, the information in the table relates to assessed liability and not to the amounts of maintenance actually being paid. Cash compliance is currently around 66 per cent. but we estimate that this will increase to 80 per cent. or more under the new scheme. We are also proposing that reductions in maintenance should be phased in, so parents with care with a lower assessment will not necessarily find their maintenance reduced immediately to the new amount.