§ Mr. HoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each local authority in Scotland, for 1996–97, housing and council tax benefit expenditure relating to(a) good cause backdated awards, (b) exceptional circumstances awards and (c) exceptional payments, under Regulation 61(1), 965W indicating the percentage in each category as a proportion of overall housing and council tax benefit expenditure. [55035]
§ Angela EagleThe information is in the tables. Regulation 61(1) does not relate to exceptional payments. Regulation 61(3) relates to Rent Allowance Exceptional Hardship payments. There is no equivalent Regulation for Rent Rebate or Council Tax Benefit.
(a) Good cause backdated awards Benefit expenditure in category £ As a proportion of overall benefit percentage Authority HB CTB HB CTB Aberdeen 118,370 24,524 0.49 0.33 Aberdeenshire 3,024 84,770 0.02 1.65 Angus 2,177 42,199 0.02 1.18 Argyll-Bute 100,057 3,137 0.76 0.10 Clackmannanshire 18,954 23,933 0.27 0.89 Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar 12,788 9,814 0.40 0.72 Dumfries and Galloway 11,984 95 0.06 0.00 Dundee 40,969 251,498 0.10 2.41 East Ayrshire 10,613 3,416 0.06 0.06 East Dunbartonshire 13,578 6,433 0.18 0.24 East Lothian 8,715 109,861 0.07 2.69 East Renfrewshire 4,852 950 0.08 0.04 Edinburgh 114,736 784,687 0.12 3.11 Falkirk 16,575 48,973 0.09 0.77 Fife 146,258 6,307 0.28 0.04 Glasgow 381,606 22,709 0.16 0.04 Highland 72,767 101,146 0.24 1.09 Inverclyde 30,551 6,256 0.17 0.12 Midlothian 5,707 83,911 0.06 2.28 Moray 9,078 4,743 0.10 0.18 North Ayrshire 40,818 10,245 0.18 0.15 North Lanarkshire 24,189 9,217 0.04 0.05 Orkney 10,578 3,035 0.54 0.67 Perth and Kinross 63,062 71,736 0.46 1.59 Renfrewshire 91,229 5,387 0.30 0.06 Scottish Borders 28,933 5,648 0.25 0.17 Shetland 1,288 191 0.07 0.05 South Ayrshire 4,459 27,366 0.02 0.51 South Lanarkshire 25,559 0 0.05 0.00 Stirling 18,712 27,938 0.15 0.82 West Dunbartonshire 42,373 0 0.21 0.00 West Lothian 25,965 147,194 0.13 2.25 Source:
1996/97 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Audited Subsidy Claims
966W
(b) Exceptional circumstances awards Benefit expenditure in category £ As a proportion of overall benefit percentage Authority HB CTB HB CTB Aberdeen 80 0 0.00 0.00 Aberdeenshire 0 0 0.00 0.00 Angus 0 0 0.00 0.00 Argyll-Bute 0 0 0.00 0.00 Clackmannanshire 0 0 0.00 0.00 Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar 0 0 0.00 0.00 Dumfries and Galloway 1,561 0 0.01 0.00 Dundee 27,232 958 0.06 0.01 East Ayrshire 5,405 1,261 0.03 0.02 East Dunbartonshire 4,781 0 0.06 0.00 East Lothian 1,807 0 0.01 0.00 East Renfrewshire 0 16,823 0.00 0.76 Edinburgh 71,852 893 0.07 0.00 Falkirk 0 0 0.00 0.00 Fife 3,411 0 0.01 0.00 Glasgow 0 0 0.00 0.00 Highland 4,353 0 0.01 0.00
(b) Exceptional circumstances awards Benefit expenditure in category £ As a proportion of overall benefit percentage Authority HB CTB HB CTB Inverclyde 0 0 0.00 0.00 Midlothian 0 0 0.00 0.00 Moray 0 0 0.00 0.00 North Ayrshire 0 0 0.00 0.00 North Lanarkshire 3,343 0 0.01 0.00 Orkney 58 0 0.00 0.00 Perth and Kinross 0 814 0.00 0.02 Renfrewshire 2,072 0 0.01 0.00 Scottish Borders 0 0 0.00 0.00 Shetland 0 0 0.00 0.00 South Ayrshire 0 0 0.00 0.00 South Lanarkshire 27,478 0 0.06 0.00 Stirling 602 0 0.00 0.00 West Dunbartonshire 1,892 0 0.01 0.00 West Lothian 0 224 0.00 0.00 Source:
1996/97 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Audited Subsidy Claims
(c) Exceptional payments under Regulation 61(3) Authority Benefit expenditure in category £ HB As a proportion of overall benefit Percentage HB Aberdeen 3,401 0.01 Aberdeenshire 814 0.00 Angus 1,406 0.01 Argyll-Bute 0 0.00 Clackmannanshire 0 0.00 Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar 1,208 0.04 Dumfries and Galloway 2,128 0.01 Dundee 11,390 0.03 East Ayrshire 3,265 0.02 East Dunbartonshire 11,267 0.15 East Lothian 584 0.00 East Renfrewshire 6,360 0.10 Edinburgh 42,420 0.04 Falkirk 7,338 0.04 Fife 5,832 0.01 Glasgow 48,217 0.02 Highland 3,454 0.01 Inverclyde 213 0.00 Midlothian 2,304 0.03 Moray 1,135 0.01 North Ayrshire 4,985 0.02 North Lanarkshire 1,381 0.00 Orkney 211 0.01 Perth and Kinross 175 0 Renfrewshire 2,458 0.01 Scottish Borders 1,003 0.01 Shetland 0 0.00 South Ayrshire 8,175 0.04 South Lanarkshire 0 0.00 Stirling 4,748 0.04 West Dunbartonshire 675 0.00 West Lothian 426 0.00 Notes>:
1. Expenditure in categories (a), (b) and (c) above expressed as a percentage of overall Housing and Council Tax expenditure for each authority
2. Expenditure under Regulation 61(3) is expressed as a proportion of total HB expenditure, although it only applies to Rent Allowance
Source:
1996/97 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Audited Subsidy Claims
967W
§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a breakdown of the reasons for refusal given to the applicants whose claim for housing benefit/council tax benefit extended payments were refused in the period January 1997 to December 1997. [55317]
§ Angela EagleThe information is not available in the format requested. However, of the 163,000 claims for extended payments made between January 1997 and December 1997 140,000 (85 per cent.) were successful.
Notes
1. Caseload figures have been rounded to two significant figures, percentages to a whole per cent.
2. Figures refer to a benefit unit which may be a single person or a couple
3. All figures are provisional
Sources:
1. Local Authority Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit quarterly Administration data returns January 1997 to December 1997
2. Housing Benefit Administration returns 1997/98
§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of raising the earnings disregard in housing benefit and council tax benefit for lone parents to(a) £30, (b) £35 and (c) £40. [55582]
§ Angela EagleThe information is in the table.
Lone parent earnings disregard Housing benefit/council tax benefit cost (£ million) (a) £30 15 (b) £35 30 (c) £40 45 Notes:
1. Estimates based upon 1995/96 Family Resources Survey data uprated to 1998/99 prices
2. Estimates rounded to nearest £5 million