HC Deb 14 April 1999 vol 329 cc280-1W
Mr. Rendel

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) widowers and (b) widows he expects to be entitled to the bereavement payment in (i) the first full year of implementation and (ii) 2020. [80656]

Angela Eagle

[holding answer 13 April 1999]It is estimated that around 20,000 widowers and around 40,000 widows will be entitled to the Bereavement Payment in the first full year of implementation and in 2020, following equalisation of State Pension age at 65.

It is not possible to provide exact long-term estimates and therefore estimates for 2020 should be regarded as illustrative.

Note:

Figures have been supplied by the Government Actuary's Department. They are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are subject to a wide range of uncertainty.

Mr. Rendel

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated increase in the number of income support claimants as a result of the replacement of the widows pension by the bereavement allowance in (i) the first full year of implementation and (ii) 2020. [80658]

Angela Eagle

[holding answer 13 April 1999]Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.

In order to provide some idea of the scale of the likely effect, the following figures provide indicative estimates of the average increase in the number of Income Support claimants as a result of the proposed changes to Widows Pension. Estimates for 2020 should be regarded as illustrative.

In the first full year, the increase in the number of Income Support recipients is estimated to be less than 5,000. It is estimated that this could rise to around 30,0003 by 2020.

Notes:

  1. 1. Estimates assume that a constant proportion of those affected by the proposed changes to Bereavement Benefits move on or off Income Support. Therefore the estimates for 2020 should be regarded as illustrative.
  2. 2. Estimates use information from the 1995–6 Family Resources Survey, the May 1996 Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry and forecasts from the Government Actuary's Department concerning the number of men and women affected by the proposed changes.
  3. 3. Figure rounded to the nearest 10.000.

Mr. Rendel

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) widowers and (b) widows he expects to be entitled to bereavement allowance in (i) the first full year of implementation and (ii) 2020. [80655]

Angela Eagle

[holding answer 13 April 1999]It is estimated that around 10,000 widowers will be entitled to Bereavement Allowance from the first full year of implementation up to 2020. It is estimated that around 10,000 widows will be entitled to Bereavement Allowance in the first full year of implementation, increasing to around 20,000 by 2020 following equalisation of State Pension age at 65.

It is not possible to provide exact long-term estimates and therefore estimates for 2020 should be regarded as illustrative.

Notes:

  1. 1. Figures have been supplied by the Government Actuary's Department. They are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are subject to a wide range of uncertainty.
  2. 2. Figures represent the average number of cases throughout the year. Hence the first full year is the second financial year following implementation.

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