§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost to(a) the United Kingdom and (b) Scotland of restoring eligibility for incapacity benefit to its status before 1999. [106579]
Financial effects of welfare reform measures in Great Britain from April 2001 Measure £ million Incapacity Benefit contribution changes -20 Incapacity Benefit occupational and personal pension changes -30 Replacement of Severe Disabled Allowance by Incapacity Benefit for under 20–25-year-olds 0 Severe Disablement Allowance abolition for new cases -10 Extension of Disability Allowance mobility component to 3 and 4-year-olds +15 Disability Income Guarantee +60 Notes:
1. Estimate for the United Kingdom is unavailable.
2. Estimates are available for Great Britain. It is expected that the effects will be proportionate for each measure in Scotland.
3. All above figures are in April 1998 prices from April 2001.
4. From 6 April 2001 the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 amends the National Insurance contributions that have to be met to qualify for Incapacity Benefit and provides for some account of occupational and personal pension income in excess of £85 a week to be taken. Both measures apply to new Incapacity Benefit claims only.
5. The Disability Income Guarantee is included in the above table as it was part of the welfare reforms published in the command paper "A New Contract for Welfare: Support for Disabled People".
130W(married or cohabiting) where the man, defined as the head, is over State Pension Age. Estimates for pensioner couples are broken down by the age of the man.
3. Estimates marked "n/a" are not applicable. Single men and couples are only defined as pensioner units if the man is aged 65 years or above.
4. Means-tested benefits are defined as Income Support, Family Credit, Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit.
5. Levels of means-tested benefit may be particularly affected by mis-reporting by survey respondents, as receipt of State Retirement Pension and receipt of Income Support are often confused in the FRS.
6. All estimates, and in particular those for single male pensioners, should be treated with caution since they are based on small sample sizes.
7. Figures are for GB only.
Source:
The Pensioners' Incomes Series dataset, based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) 1997–98
§ Mr. Bayley[holding answer 25 January 2000]: Information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
Our welfare reforms are estimated to affect benefit expenditure for disabled people in Great Britain from 6 April 2001 as shown in the following table. The Incapacity Benefit charges apply only to new claims and no existing recipient will be adversely affected at the point of change.
Our reforms are intended to modernise the welfare system and to encourage work for those who can, while providing security for those who cannot. The reforms are not focused on making savings in benefit expenditure; spending on benefits for sick and disabled people will continue to rise.