HC Deb 24 March 1999 vol 328 c321W
Mrs. Laing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people(a) aged 15 to 25 years,

Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) recipients by age of claimant excluding claimants of IS, JSA (IB), FC and DWA—Scotland
Aged 15–25 Aged 26–40 Aged 41–65 All recipients
HB CTB HB CTB HB CTB HB CTB
May 1992 7 n/a 23 n/a 71 n/a 228 n/a
May 1993 8 3 20 18 68 70 211 258
May 1994 6 3 18 12 64 67 199 235
May 1995 6 3 17 17 62 70 185 233
May 1996 8 3 20 16 60 70 183 223
May 1997 4 2 19 19 59 72 176 225
Provisional May 1998 4 2 20 20 55 71 168 224

Notes:

1.In general, children below the age of 18 are not entitled to benefit. Young people aged 16–17 can receive IS or JSA (IB) if they satisfy the conditions of entitlement and are in one of a number of a categories.

2.It has not been possible to provide a single figure representing the number of means-tested benefit recipients in Scotland. This is due to the fact that an individual may be in receipt of more than one means-tested benefit and it has not been possible to remove all overlaps between HB and CTB in Scotland due to the data collection procedure.

3.We estimate however that approximately 65 per cent. of HB recipients also receive CTB.

4.Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and as such totals may not sum.

5.IS, JSA and FC figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of benefits claimants. CTB and HB estimates are based on a 1 per cent. sample of Housing Benefit Management System and are subject to a degree of sampling error. DWA is based on a 100 per cent. scan of all DWA claimants.

6.Estimates are based on samples taken at May of each of the years.

7.Figures are not available for DWA as at May 1992.

8.IS figures prior to October 1996 include unemployed claimants.

9.Information refers to benefit units.

10.The information on HB and CTB does not include second adult rebate cases.

Sources:

Housing Benefit Management System, annual 1 per cent. sample inquiries taken in May of each year shown.