§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the abolition of MIRAS on unemployed people with endowment mortgages; [119966]
(2) what plans he has to increase income support, or other state assistance, following the abolition of MIRAS, for unemployed people who are paying increased mortgage repayments as a result of mis-selling of endowment mortgages. [119965]
§ Mr. BayleyThere should not be any effect due to the loss of MIRAS. Benefit was recalculated from 6 April automatically, and customers received a notification from the Benefits Agency, informing them of the change to their benefit. An endowment mortgage does not affect the recalculation of benefit. The mortgage scheme only makes payments on the interest element of the mortgage.