§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in receipt of housing benefit live in(a) local authority properties, (b) housing 174W association properties and (c) owner-occupied housing in (i) the DSS administrative region containing Paisley, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK. [111681]
§ Angela EagleThe information requested is not available. Such information that is available is in the table.
Number of Housing Benefit recipients living in (a) local authority properties, (b) housing association properties in (i) Scotland and (ii) Great Britain—February1999
Total local authority Total housing association Scotland 383,000 80,400 Great Britain 2,589,600 858,900 Note:
1. The number of recipients is rounded to the nearest hundred.
2. Recipients refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
3. Owner occupiers are not entitled to Housing Benefit.
4. It is not possible to give a smaller administrative unit as data on housing in individual local authority areas administered by Scottish Homes is not available. Figures in the table take into account housing administered by Scottish Homes.
5. The information in the table refers to Scotland and Great Britain only. Requests for Housing Benefit data for Northern Ireland should be referred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Source:
Housing Benefit Management Information System, Quarterly caseload taken on the second Thursday in February 1999.
§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are in receipt of housing benefit and of these how many are(a) of working age, (b) in receipt of incapacity benefit, (c) in receipt of unemployment benefit and (d) in receipt of income support in (i) the DSS administrative region containing Paisley, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK. [111680]
§ Angela EagleThe information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
Housing benefit recipients, Scotland and Great Britain—May 1998 Housing benefit (HB) recipients Great Britain Scotland All housing benefit recipients 4,475,000 520,000 Of working age 2,662,000 296,000 In receipt of incapacity benefit 438,000 72,000 In receipt of JSA (Contribution based) 65,000 11,000 In receipt of Income Support/JSA (Income based) 2,860,000 324,000 Notes:
1. The number of recipients is rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Recipients refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
3. Jobseekers Allowance (Contribution Based) replaced Unemployment Benefit from October 1996.
4. There is an overlap in the figures as each case could fit into more than one category.
5. "Working age" is where the claimant is aged 16 or over and under 60.
6. It is not possible to give data for smaller administrative regions as information gained from the sampling process becomes unreliable at this level.
7. The information refers to Scotland and Great Britain only. Requests for Housing Benefit data for Northern Ireland should be referred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Source:
Housing Benefit Management Information System, annual 1 per cent. sample inquiries taken on the second Thursday in May 1998.
175W
§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much money was spent on housing benefit in(a) 1980, (b) 1990, (c) 1996, (d) 1997 and (e) 1998 in (i) the DSS administrative region containing Paisley, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK. [111679]
§ Angela EagleThe information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
Housing Benefit expenditure in Great Britain and Scotland £ million, cash Scotland Great Britain 1980–81 95 1,623 1990–91 595 5,147 1996–97 967 11,380 1997–98 1,017 11,180 1998–99 1,034 11,156 Notes:
1. Information for all the years, except for 1998–99, is final outturn. 1998–99 information is estimated outturn.
2. Figures for Renfrewshire have not been included as they do not include expenditure in relation to housing administered by Scottish Homes in the Renfrewshire area (figure not available). The figures for Scotland and Great Britain do include expenditure in relation to housing administered by Scottish Homes. As an indication of the level of spending on Housing Benefit in the Renfrewshire area, the latest available figure for the local authority's spending is £40 million for 1998–99.
3. The information refers to Scotland and Great Britain only. Requests for Housing Benefit data for Northern Ireland should be referred to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Source:
The figures underlie the Departmental Reports and the 1998–99 figure is from the Pre-Budget Report 1999.
§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many regulations have been made in respect of housing benefit in(a) the past 12 months and (b) since the benefit was introduced. [111997]
§ Angela EagleThere have been 14 sets of regulations made in the last 12 months that affect Housing Benefit and approximately 110 sets of regulations since Housing Benefit was introduced in 1988. Some of the sets of regulations relate only to Housing Benefit, while others affect a number of the income related benefits, including Housing Benefit. Such regulations may contain only minor changes to Housing Benefit policy.
§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the level of fraud in respect of housing benefit in(a) the DSS administrative region containing Paisley, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK. [111693]
§ Mr. RookerNo figures are available on the level of Housing Benefit fraud for the Benefits Agency Area Directorate containing Paisley or for the United Kingdom as an entity.
However, the 1997–98 Housing Benefit Accuracy Review provided the information in the following table on the estimated percentage of the number of Housing Benefit cases for Scotland and Great Britain found to be incorrect as a result of either a confirmed or a suspected fraud. 176W
Scotland Great Britain Confirmed fraud 1.8 (0.7–2.9) 1.9 (1.3–2.6) Strong suspicion of fraud 2.4 (1.2–3.7) 4.0 (1.9–6.8) Mild suspicion of fraud 0.5 (0.2–0.8) 1.1 (0.7–1.7) Notes:
1.The figures in italic provide the best estimate from the Review for the percentage of the caseload in 1997-98 within each of the fraud categories. The figures in brackets indicate the range within which we can be 95 per cent. confident that the true value lies.
2. The definition of "confirmed fraud" was "where the claimant had provided incorrect or incomplete information or failed to report a change in circumstances which, on correction, led to a reduction in, or cancellation of, benefit and there was evidence or admission of intention to obtain monies fraudulently".
3. The definition of "strong suspicion of fraud" was "where a fraudulent claim could not be proven but, on the balance of probabilities, the incorrect payment was likely to be due to fraud".
4. The definition of "mild suspicion of fraud" was "where there was some suspicion of a fraudulent claim but, on the balance of probabilities, the incorrect payment was not likely to be due to fraud"
Source:
"National Housing Benefit Accuracy Review 1997–98" published by the Government Statistical Service in October 1998.
§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many circulars have been issued in respect of housing benefit in(a) the past 12 months and (b) since the benefit was introduced. [111998]
§ Angela EagleIn the last 12 months 88 circulars covering administration, fraud and subsidy matters in respect of housing benefit have been issued. Since the benefit was introduced in 1988 approximately 585 circulars have been issued. Some of these circulars covered Council Tax Benefit as well.