§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the projected savings from the planned changes in support for people in bereavement; and how those savings will be made up. [HL364]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)The information is in the table.
Breakdown of the estimated costs and savings associated with the proposed reforms of Bereavement Benefits £ million 1998–9 benefit rates 2001–2 2002–3 2003–4 2020 Increase Widow's Payment to £2,000 and extend to men 70 70 70 50 Introduce Bereavement Allowance and extend to men * -50 -100 -600 Extend Widowed Parent's Allowance to new widowers * 10 20 50 Extend Widowed Parent's Allowance to existing widowers 50 40 40 0 £10 disregard of Widowed Parent's Allowance in means-tested benefits 10 10 10 ** Premium for older widows in means-tested benefits * 10 10 0 Total 140 100 50 -500 Notes:
1 Estimates are presented net of means-tested benefit offsets, in line with those in A new contract for welfare: Support in bereavement. Means-tested benefit offsets were estimated using the 1995–6 Family Resources Survey and the Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiries. They assume a constant offset ratio in order to provide illustrative estimates for 2020.
2 The underlying contributory benefit effects have been provided by the Government Actuary's Department.
3 + cost, ' saving.
4 Estimates for the first three years are rounded to the nearest £10 million. "*" denotes negligible i.e. less then +/-£5 million.
5 Estimates for 2020 provide broad orders of magnitude and are rounded to the nearest £50 million. "**" denotes less than £25 million.
6 Totals may not agree due to rounding.