HC Deb 06 November 2002 vol 392 cc301-2W
Mr. Chidgey

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many married women since June 1997 have had claims for incapacity benefit disallowed on the grounds that they did not, in respect of one of the last three years before making a claim, pay before the relevant time contributions of a relevant class from which the earnings factor is not less than 25 times the lower earnings limit for that year. [78209]

Mr. Nicholas Brown

[holding answer 30 October 2002]: The information is not available.

Initiative Budget 2002–03 (£m) Areas covered
Action Teams for Jobs 52.8 Selected wards in:

Barnsley and Rotherham, Birmingham North, Birmingham South, Blackburn with Darwen, Blaenau Gwent, Brent, Brighton and Hove, Caerphilly, Chester-le-Street, Cornwall, Doncaster, Dundee, Easington, East Ayrshire, Glasgow Central and East, Glasgow North, Glasgow South, Glasgow West, Greenwich, Hackney, Halton, Haringey, Hartlepool, Highlands and Islands, Islington, Kingston upon Hull, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lewisham, Liverpool Central, Liverpool North, Liverpool South, Manchester Central, Manchester North, Manchester South, Merthyr Tydfil, Middlesbrough, Neath and Port Talbot, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newham, North Lanarkshire, North West Wales, Nottingham, Pembrokeshire, Plymouth, Redcar and Cleveland, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Salford, Sefton, Sheffield, South Tyneside, Southwark, St. Helens, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Thanet, Tower Hamlets, Wales Objective One, Waltham Forest, Wansbeck, West Dumbartonshire, Wirral, Wolverhampton

Ambition Construction1 Coventry, Knowsley, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, Paddington

Information is not collected about the marital status of those making claims to Incapacity Benefit, as it is not relevant to their claim; therefore claims made by married women cannot be disaggregated from those made by unmarried women.