§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate (1) the cost of abolishing the rule which withdraws severe disability premium from those who are cared for by someone who is receipt of ICA; [16765]
(2) the number of people who would benefit from abolishing the rule which withdraws severe disability premium from those who are cared for by someone who is in receipt of ICA. [16766]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 21 November 2001]:The information is in the table:
Estimated cost and potential gainers in the event of a change to regulations Benefit Costs (£ million per annum) Potential gainers Income Support (including Jobseeker's Allowance (income based)) 70 35,000 Housing Benefit 5 10,000 Council Tax Benefit less than 2.5 10,000 Total 75 — Notes:
1. The costs and potential gainers have been estimated from a Policy Simulation Model which models the benefit rules in 2001–02.
2. The estimates are based on data taken from the 1999–2000 Family Resources Survey, uprated to 2001–02 prices, benefit and earnings levels.
3. Costs are rounded to the nearest £5 million except for Council Tax Benefit where the cost would be less than £2.5 million. Potential gainers are rounded to the nearest 5,000. Costs and gainers include estimates for people who would become newly entitled to the income-related benefits in the event of such a change.
4. Potential gainers cannot be summed to a total because of overlap across the different benefits.
5. The estimates are based on small sample sizes and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty.