HC Deb 18 April 2002 vol 383 cc1116-7W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will estimate the proportion of expenditure on the savings credit element of the pension credit that will be attributable to(a) single male pensioners, (b) single female pensioners and (c) married pensioners; [47582]

(2) how many (a) single women, (b) single men and (c) pensioner couples are expected to be entitled to (i) the guarantee credit only, (ii) the savings credit only and (iii) both the guarantee credit and the savings credit in October 2003; [47583]

(3) what percentage of claimants entitled to the state pension credit are expected to be entitled to (a) housing benefit, (b) council tax benefit and (c) both housing and council tax benefit. [47584]

Mr. McCartney

[holding answer 10 April 2002]: The information requested is in the tables.

Table 1: Proportion of total savings credit expenditure for which it is estimated that single men, single women and pensioner couples will be eligible
Per cent.1
Proportion of savings credit expenditure
Single men 16
Single women 50
Couples 35
Total 100
1Percentages are given to the nearest per cent.

Table 2: number of single men, single women and pensioner couples estimated to be entitled to the pension credit in 2003–041
millions
Guarantee credit only Guarantee and savings credits Savings credit only Total pension credit
Single men 0.15 0.25 0.20 0.60
Single women 0.40 1.15 0.55 2.10
Couples 0.35 0.35 0.50 1.20
Total 0.90 1.75 1.30 3.90
1 Numbers rounded to the nearest 0.05 million.

Table 3: Proportion of total pension credit case load entitled to council tax benefit, housing benefit or both
Per cent.1
Pension credit case load
No housing benefit/council tax benefit 8
Council tax benefit only 46
Housing benefit only 2——
Both housing benefit and council tax benefit 45
1 Percentages are given to the nearest one per cent.
2 Denotes a figure less than 0.5 per cent.

Notes:

  1. 1. Pension credit figures have been calculated using the Policy Simulation Model for Income Related Benefit. This models the benefits system and is based on data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for 1999–2000. The model has been uprated to model benefits in 2003–04.
  2. 2. The figures are based on entitlement to pension credit.
  3. 3. The figures do not include pensioners in residential care or nursing homes (RCNH). This is because the FRS does not contain information on RCNH cases. It is estimated that 200,000 pensioners in RCNH will be eligible for pension credit, and the majority of these will be in single pensioner benefit units. Therefore the total case load estimated to be entitled to pension credit in 2003–04 is around 4.1 million households.