§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department defines living in
Table 1: Nominal benefit and tax credit expenditure-pre-Budget report 2002 forecasts £ million, cash War Pensions Northern Ireland expenditure
Total United Kingdom expenditure
Personal Tax Credits (expenditure
component)
Total United Kingdom benefit and tax credit
expenditure
1991–92 967 1,951 68,220 — 68,220 1992–93 1,158 2,212 77,469 — 77,469 1993–94 1,286 2,470 84,907 — 84,907 1994–95 1,147 2,622 87,471 — 87,471 1995–96 1,258 2,797 91,493 — 91,493 1996–97 1,351 2,975 95,187 — 95,187 1997–98 1,288 3,046 96,388 — 96,388 1998–99 1,264 3,169 98,724 — 98,724 1999–2000 1,256 3,285 102,338 1,097 103,435 2000–01 1,396 3,346 104,660 4,648 109,308 2001–02 1,231 3,551 109,893 4,845 114,738 2002–03 1,187 3,706 114,383 5,665 120,048 2003–04 1,148 3,847 119,306 7,823 127,129 2004–05 1,107 3,919 121,931 11,310 133,241 2005–06 1,091 4,075 126,525 12,600 139,126 Note:
War Pensions, Northern Ireland, and Personal Tax Credits forecasts provided by HM Treasury. Historic information provided by the relevant Departments.
302Wpoverty; how many households (a) in the UK and (b) in each region are classified as having been in poverty in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02; and how many households are expected to be in poverty in (A) 2002–03, (B) 2003–04, (C) 2004–05 and (D) 2005–06. [103806]
§ Malcolm WicksPoverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives-including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. The fourth annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 5598) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy. We do not publish forecasts of these indicators.
Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994–95—2001–02'.
In April 2002 we published 'Measuring Child Poverty: a consultation document' to gather views on an appropriate measure of child poverty for the long term. This consultation was very well received and we plan to publish initial conclusions this spring.
All publications listed are available in the Library.