§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what specific support his Department has provided to coalmining communities since 1997 by(a) region and (b) social security district. [154306]
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§ Mr. RookerSocial Security benefits operate on a national basis and people in coalmining communities will have benefited from our policies in the same way as other groups.
The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of:
Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10;Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; andCombating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.Measures in our five Budgets so far will lift over 1.2 million children nationally out of poverty. These include record increases to Child Benefit, the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, increases in the income-related benefits, the minimum wage and tax changes.
We now have the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years. The New Deals are helping lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over-50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since May 1997 the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,562,400 to 960,600; and the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally.
We have recently published the Green Paper "Towards Full Employment in a Modern Society", which sets out how we will build on our achievements and deliver employment opportunities for all.
Older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty. So we have introduced Winter Fuel Payments to help with their heaviest bill. This winter, the payment is £200 for households who qualify. Around 11 million older people nationally have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter.
To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Over 10 million pensioners nationally will benefit from the substantial increases in the basic State pension this April and next; this year's increase is £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for couples. In addition we have introduced free TV licences for the over-75s of whom we estimate there are over 4 million nationally. Around 1.7 million pensioner families nationally are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee, which we introduced in April 1999 to help our poorest pensioners. From April they will be at least £15 a week, or £800 a year, better off in real terms as a result of Government measures since 1997.
Other reforms in the pipeline include: the new Pension Credit in 2003 designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings; the launch of Stakeholder Pensions in April this year; and the introduction of the State Second Pension in April 2002 both of which will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.