§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants there were of(a) jobseekers allowance, (b) incapacity benefit, (c) housing benefit and (d) lone parents on income support, in (i) May 1997 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available. [110680]
§ Malcolm WicksThe information is in the table.
Numbers of benefit recipients in Great Britain, May 1997 and May 2002 Benefit May 1997 May 2002 Jobseekers Allowance 1,406,300 827,500 Incapacity Benefit 1,732,700 1,514,400 Housing Benefit 4,639,000 3,813,000 Income Support (Lone Parents) 1,013,500 856,300 Notes:
1. Jobseekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Income Support figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
2. Jobseekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Income Support figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to sampling variation.
3. Jobseekers Allowance and Incapacity Benefit figures do not include credits only cases.
Sources:
1. Jobseekers Allowance Quarterly Statistical Inquiries, May 1997 and May 2002.
2. Incapacity Benefit Quarterly Statistical Inquiries, May 1997 and May 2002.
3. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload count, May 1997 and May 2002.
4. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Inquiries, May 1997 and May 2002.
91W
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what work his Department has completed on the destinations of those people leaving each of the benefits of his Department for people of working age. [110764]
§ Malcolm WicksInformation on the first destination of people leaving jobseekers allowance is included in the Office for National Statistics monthly publication Labour Market Trends, copies of which are in the Library. The information may also be accessed on the National Statistics website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/products/p550.asp.
The Department is currently developing a system to collect similar information on people leaving income support and incapacity benefit. However, as this is not due to be implemented until the end of 2004, we plan to conduct a survey this summer of the destinations of people leaving income support and incapacity benefit as well as those leaving jobseekers allowance whose destination is unknown.
Report Publication date Housing Benefit Review — Main Stage Report January 1996 Benefit Review Retirement Pension — Final Report March 1996 Benefit Review Invalid Care Allowance — Report on Main Study July 1996 Benefit Review Disability Living Allowance — Report on Main Study February 1997 Benefit Review — The Review of Child Benefit and Child Benefit (Lone Parent) 1996–97 July 1998 National Housing Benefit Accuracy Review 1997–98 August 1998 Fraud and Error in Claims to Incapacity Benefit — The Results of the Benefit Review of Incapacity Benefit July 2001 Fraud and Error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance from April 2001 to March 2002 February 2003
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of households below pensionable age had no-one in work and were dependent on benefit in each of the last 30 years. [110690]
§ Malcolm WicksInformation is not available for the time period requested.
The Family Resources survey can provide estimates from 1994–95 for Great Britain. This information is presented in the following table:
Percentage of working age households Year Workless households dependent on benefits. 1994–95 17 1995–96 18 1996–97 17 1997–98 15 1998–99 15 1999–2000 15 2000–01 14 2001–02 14 Notes:
1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). A consistent series is available from 1994–95. 2001–02 is the latest year for which data is available.
2. Dependent on benefits has been defined as in receipt of Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance/Unemployment Benefit Incapacity Benefit/Invalidity Benefit or Severe Disablemen Allowance.
3. From October 1996 Jobseeker's Allowance replaced Unemployment Benefit and Income Support for unemployed people. Recipients of those benefits were automatically transferred to JSA.
92WWe are also well advanced in our plans to collect data from the Inland Revenue to provide information on how long people who have left working age benefits to enter work remain in employment.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list each benefit that is subject to a departmental benefit review; and for each of those benefits, what the estimated(a) percentage of customers who are receiving benefit at an incorrect rate, (b) percentage of customers receiving an underpayment, (c) percentage of customers receiving an overpayment, (d) grossed up number of customers receiving an underpayment, (e) grossed up number of customers receiving an overpayment, (f) average amount of weekly underpayment, (g) average amount of weekly overpayment, (h) grossed up annual underpayment and (i) grossed up annual overpayment is. [112337]
§ Malcolm WicksNot all of the information requested is available. However, the available information is in the following reports of departmental benefit reviews, copies of which are in the Library:
4. From April 1995 Incapacity Benefit replaced Sickness Benefit and Invalidity Benefit. Recipients of those benefits were automatically transferred to IB.
5. Working age households contain at least one adult below pensionable age.
6. Workless households contain no-one in work.
7. Benefit receipt is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to misreporting.
8. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure type, Council Tax Band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias.
Source:
Family Resources Survey, Great Britain