§ Mrs. LaitTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security to the latest date for which figures are available, how many responses there have been to the minimum income guarantee take up campaign; how many pensioners(a) received and (b) were refused the minimum income guarantee; how many of those who were refused 463W had too much capital; and of those who claimed, how many would not be eligible under the new income rules. [143849]
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) inquiries, (b) applications and (c) decisions have resulted from the minimum income guarantee advertising campaign. [144107]
§ Mr. RookerWe have had 800,000 responses to the minimum income guarantee take-up campaign. There have been 143,000 additional new claims processed, of which around 62,500 have been successful. The main reasons why those that applied for the minimum income guarantee were unsuccessful were either too much income or too much capital (54 per cent. too much income—41 per cent. too much capital).
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of raising the minimum income guarantee for(a) a single pensioner and (b) a pensioner couple by (i)£5, (ii) 10 and (iii) £15 per week. [144253]
§ Mr. RookerThe information is as follows:
Total cost for income related benefits of increasing the minimum income guarantee over April 2001 announced rates1 assuming previous take-up Increase over April 2001 announced rates Cost in £ billion £5 0.6 £10 1.2 £15 1.8 1£ singles and £140.55 couples Notes:
1. Costs are rounded to the nearest £100 million
2. The Policy Simulation Model (PSM) for Income Related Benefits was used for these calculations
3. The PSM for 2001–02 models the benefits system and is based on data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for 1997–98, uprated to 2001 prices
4. The costs exclude residential care or nursing home cases.
5. Costs for entitlement are based on figures, which have not been calibrated to administrative records and as with all survey data may be subject to survey errors.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners in the Vale of Clwyd(a) qualify for the minimum income guarantee and (b) qualified for the winter fuel payment in 2000. [144456]
§ Mr. RookerAround 11 million winter fuel payments have already been made this winter and the latest information shows that 16,278 payments were made in the Vale of Clwyd to those entitled. However, we are still receiving, processing and making payments on claims for this winter, so figures are not exact.
There are around 2,700 recipients of the minimum income guarantee in the Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency.
Notes:
1. Figures for the minimum income guarantee are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling error.
2. Pensioners are defined as where the claimant, and/or partner are aged 60 or over.
3. Figures for the minimum income guarantee are rounded to the nearest 100.
464W4. Cases for the minimum income guarantee are allocated to each Parliamentary Constituency by matching the postcode against the 2000 version 1 ONS Postcode Directory.
Source:
Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, August 2000.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will break down the cost of the minimum income guarantee take-up campaign into the amount spent on(a) letters, (b) television advertising, (c) other advertising, (d) the telephone helpline and (e) other costs. [143513]
§ Mr. RookerThe information is:
£million (a) Letters 1.2 (b) Television and (c) other advertising 4.0 (e) Other costs 4.0 The telephone helpline is not part of the take-up campaign, it is a permanent feature.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much it will cost to(a) increase the minimum income guarantee to £100 in April 2001 and (b) to introduce at the same time a benefit for pensioners with savings, assuming that it goes to single pensioners and married couples with an income of less than £135 a week, that it has a 60 per cent. taper, and that it interacts with existing means-tested benefits in exactly the same way as the existing minimum income guarantee. [143507]
§ Mr. RookerThe costs of such a proposal would depend on its detailed structure, and on a number of interactions with the rest of the social security system. We will be in a position to bring forward estimates of such a proposal once we have completed the pension credit consultation exercise.