HC Deb 13 March 2002 vol 381 cc1124-5W
Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living in(a) the City of Newcastle upon Tyne and (b) the constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne, Central were in receipt of income-related benefits in (a) May 1996 and (b) each subsequent year to 2001, broken down by those of (i) pensionable and (ii) working age. [37285]

Malcolm Wicks

The available information is in the tables. A large proportion of people in receipt of the income-related benefits referred to in the first table may also be in receipt of housing benefit and council tax benefit.

Recipients of income-related benefits (other than housing benefit and council tax benefit)
City of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority area Newcastle upon Tyne, Central parliamentary constituency
Pension age Working age Pension age Working age
May 1996 12,300 31,900 — —
May 1997 12,000 29,900 3,800 8,100
May 1998 11,200 28,200 3,500 7,700
May 1999 11,100 28,200 3,500 7,800
May 2000 11,600 22,700 3,600 6,400
May 2001 12,300 22,600 3,800 6,600

Notes:

1. Income-related benefits include income support (IS), jobseeker's allowance (income based), family credit (FC) and disability working allowance (DWA). IS, jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and FC figures are based on 5 per cent. samples and are subject to a degree of sampling variation. DWA figures are from 100 per cent. count.

2. JSA was introduced in October 1996 to replace unemployment benefit and IS for the unemployed.

3. FC and DWA were replaced by tax credits in October 1999 which are the responsibility of the Inland Revenue.

4. Pension age is defined as cases where the recipient and/or partner is aged 60 and over for IS and JSA and the recipient is aged 60 and over for DWA and FC. Working age is defined as cases where both the recipient and partner are under age 60 for IS and JSA and the recipient is aged under 60 for DWA and FC.

5. Parliamentary constituency data are not available prior to 1997.

Sources:

1. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1996–2001.

2. Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Enquiry, May 1997–2001.

3. Family Credit Statistics, May 1996–99.

4. Disability Working Allowance Statistics, May 1996–99.

Housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients—City of Newcastle upon Tyne local authority area
Housing benefit Council tax benefit
May 1996 40,630 43,910
May 1997 39,140 42,430
May 1998 37,260 40,420
May 1999 36,300 39,510
May 2000 34,830 37,880
May 2001 32,360 35,380

Notes:

1. The figures refer to recipients, which may be a single person, a couple or a family. They have been rounded to the nearest 10 cases.

2. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.

3. Nationally approximately 80 per cent. of housing benefit recipients also receive council tax benefit, therefore there will be a significant overlap between recipients of housing benefit and council tax benefit.

4. Figures for housing benefit and council tax benefit are not available by parliamentary constituency.

5. A split of cases by client group is not available at local authority level.

Source:

Housing benefit and council tax benefit Management Information System, quarterly 100 per cent. case load count, taken in May of each year from 1996 to 2001.