§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 25 January 1999,Official Report, column 49, regarding publication of take-up estimates, (a) when he now expects to publish such estimates and (b) for what reason there has been a further delay in publication. [85637]
§ Angela EagleThe Department's statisticians expect to publish revised figures for 1996–97 and new figures for 1997–98 as a single document in the late summer, probably early September.
It has taken longer than expected to complete extensive investigation and testing of the routines used in calculating take-up to ensure the quality of take-up estimates. This phase is now complete and production of estimates is under way.
We have taken the opportunity to look again at the possibility of publishing 1996–97 estimates of take-up for Job Seekers Allowance (income based JSA). Informed judgments on this and the other benefits are assisted by considering 1996–97 and 1997–98 data in parallel. 302W Statisticians therefore judge that the early production of quality-assured estimates is best served by publishing 1996–97 and 1997–98 statistics together.
Statisticians advise that they expect the final estimate, of the average number of pensioners entitled to but not receiving Income Support in 1996–97, to be close to the provisional revised estimate of 400,000–700,000 given in DSS Press notice 98/300 of 11 December, a copy of which is in the Library.