§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of(a) the number of bereaved people who will no longer be able to claim incapacity benefit on the basis of their spouses' contribution record under the proposals in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill and (b) the consequent savings. [75002]
§ Mr. BayleyIt is estimated that currently there may be up to 2,000 successful claims a year to Incapacity Benefit on the basis of a late spouse's contributions and that the proposals in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill may affect 1,500 people and save £1 million in 2001–02. No one already widowed at the point of change will be affected.
Note:
Savings are rounded to nearest £1 million and the number of cases to 500.
924W
§ Mr. BayleyInformation is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
Disability Living Allowance is intended to provide help with the extra costs of care and mobility needs arising from disability. Since entitlement can continue irrespective of whether the recipient is in or out of work, statistics are not routinely kept on the numbers working. The table gives numbers of recipients and some broad estimates of the proportion in work, based on available data in the Family Resources Survey.