§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners he estimates will benefit from the minimum income guarantee uprating in(a) Shrewsbury and Atcham and (b) Shropshire in the first year of its operation; and if he will make a statement. [107255]
§ Mr. RookerBased on the latest administrative data that the Department holds, it is estimated that over 2,000 pensioners in the constituency of Shrewsbury and Atcham, and some 7,000 pensioners in the county of Shropshire will benefit from this April's increase to the minimum income guarantee.
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and quoted in thousands.
2. Pensioners are defined as where the claimant, and/or partner is aged 60 or over.
3. Sample size 5 per cent.
4. Figures for 1998 are allocated by matching the postcode against the 1998 version 1 of the Postcode Directory, and 1999 figures by matching the postcode against the 1999 version 1 of the Postcode Directory.
Source:
Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiries, August 1998 and August 1999.
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the number of severely disabled children aged three and four who will benefit financially from the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill in(a) Shrewsbury and Atcham and (b) Shropshire in the first year of its operation; and if he will make a statement. [107254]
§ Mr. BayleyThis information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
In 2001–02 we estimate that approximately 7,000 severely disabled children aged three or four in Great Britain will become entitled to the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA). If the proportion of gainers in the areas requested were in line with the proportion of all DLA recipients in these areas, about 10 children would qualify in Shrewsbury and Atcham and about 50 in Shropshire.