HC Deb 10 June 2004 vol 422 cc575-9W
John Barrett

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of council tax benefit in the City of Edinburgh local authority area. [176735]

Net cost of administering Council Tax benefit in nominal terms
£million
1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Total Greater London 38.4 39.3 45.0 52.4 47.7
Of which:

Inner London

City of London 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Camden 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.4 1.5
Greenwich 0.8 0.8 0.8 2.2 2.5
Hackney 1.9 2.0 1.9 4.0 3.2
Hammersmith and Fulham 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.6
Islington 1.5 1.3 1.2 3.2 3.3
Kensington and Chelsea 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5
Lambeth 3.1 3.4 5.0 5.6 2.2
Lewisham 0.9 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.0
Southwark 0.8 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.2
Tower Hamlets 2.4 2.3 2.8 2.9 3.0
Wandsworth 1.0 1.5 1.5 1.7 2.0
Westminster 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.3 2.3
Outer London
Barking and Dagenham 0.8 0.7 1.2 1.3 0.8
Barnet 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.6 1.8
Bexley 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6
Brent 1.3 1.2 1.9 1.5 1.2

Mr. Pond

The number of council tax benefit recipients in the City of Edinburgh at August 2003 is 38,100.

Notes:

1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.

2. The figure is rounded to the nearest hundred.

3. Figures for non-responding authorities are estimated.

4. Council tax benefit data excludes Second Adult Rebate cases.

Source:

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in August 2003.

John Barrett

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost to local authorities of administering council tax benefit; and if he will make a statement. [176739]

Mr. Pond

The information is in the table.

Cost of administering council tax benefit
£ million
England 229
Wales 12
Scotland 19
Great Britain 259
Notes:
1. Figures are for reported net current expenditure in 2002–03. Amounts are rounded to the nearest £ million. The sum of the individual countries does not equal the Great Britain total due to rounding.
2. Figures for England are provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
3. Figures for Wales are provided by the Welsh Assembly.
4. Figures for Scotland are provided by the Scottish Executive.

Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering council tax benefit payments in(a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each of the last five years. [177186]

Mr. Pond

The information is in the table.

Net cost of administering Council Tax benefit in nominal terms
£ million
1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Bromley 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6
Croydon 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.3
Ealing 1.7 2.0 2.3 2.7 0.9
Enfield 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.9
Haringey 0.8 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.5
Harrow 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.9
Havering 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.4 0.9
Hillingdon 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.5
Hounslow 1.3 1.4 2.2 2.2 2.3
Kingston 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.7
Merton 0.8 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1
Newham 2.7 2.2 2.9 2.5 3.2
Redbridge 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
Richmond 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4
Sutton 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5
Waltham Forest 3.3 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.9
Notes:
1. The figures shown are reported net current expenditure, in nominal terms.
2. All figures are provided to the nearest £0.1 million. The total greater London figure shown may not be the sum of the individual authorities due to rounding.
Source:
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the value was of council tax benefit payments made in(a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each of the last five years; [177187]

(2) what the value was of council tax benefit payments made in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the total amount of council tax benefit unclaimed in each of those years. [177188]

Council tax benefit expenditure in nominal terms
£million
Outturn
Greater London 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–031
City of London 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
Camden 18.3 18.0 17.4 18.0 18.9
Greenwich 18.0 16.6 15.9 16.2 16.9
Hackney 20.2 17.2 19.3 24.2 26.1
Hammersmith 12.0 11.9 12.1 12.5 12.7
Islington 22.4 20.5 19.7 19.0 18.6
Kensington and Chelsea 5.8 5.9 6.2 6.8 7.6
Lambeth 18.2 16.8 17.3 19.1 20.1
Lewisham 14.8 14.5 14.8 15.7 16.9
Southwark 18.5 18.0 18.8 19.6 20.5
Tower Hamlets 14.6 14.7 15.4 16.4 17.4
Wandsworth 5.3 5.7 5.8 6.4 5.6
Westminster 4.7 4.8 4.8 6.0 6.5
Total Inner London 172.9 164.8 167.6 180.1 187.9
Barking 9.9 10.2 10.5 11.3 12.1
Barnet 12.1 12.1 12.5 13.3 14.0
Bexley 7.1 7.6 7.5 8.0 8.3
Brent 12.4 13.2 14.5 15.0 16.7
Bromley 7.7 8.3 8.8 9.7 10.2
Croydon 13.2 13.5 13.7 13.6 13.9
Baling 12.2 13.0 12.1 14.5 14.6
Enfield 13.3 13.5 14.6 16.0 17.0
Haringey 22.6 22.5 22.3 21.6 21.9
Harrow 7.3 7.5 8.1 9.0 9.6

Mr. Pond

The information requested about the total amount of unclaimed council tax benefit is not available below national level. Estimates of the total amount of council tax benefit unclaimed at a national level can be found in a series of DWP reports entitled: "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up". The latest publication relates to financial year 2001–02; copies of this and previous reports are available from the Library.

The value of council tax benefit payments made in each London borough and greater London as a whole, from 1998–99 to 2002–03 is in the table.

Council tax benefit expenditure in nominal terms
£million
Outturn
Greater London 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–031
Havering 8.1 8.6 9.3 9.9 10.7
Hillingdon 9.6 10.2 10.7 11.7 12.6
Hounslow 10.7 10.8 11.0 11.7 12.6
Kingston 3.7 4.2 4.5 5.0 5.5
Merton 7.5 7.5 7.7 8.3 8.6
Newham 17.7 16.8 17.6 18.2 19.1
Redbridge 9.1 9.4 9.9 10.3 10.9
Richmond 5.6 6.0 6.3 6.8 7.5
Sutton 6.0 5.9 5.8 6.3 6.9
Waltham Forest 14.9 14.4 14.2 14.8 15.4
Total Outer London 210.7 215.3 221.7 234.8 248.2
Total Greater London 383.6 380.1 389.3 414.9 436.1
1Estimated
Notes.
1. All expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million and therefore may not add up to the total greater London expenditure.
2. Expenditure figures for 1998–99 to 2001–02 are final outturn figures supplied by local authorities in 'final audited' subsidy claims. The figures for 2002–03 are the latest available estimated outturn figures, provided by local authorities in their 'initial final' subsidy claims, and are subject to revision in the final audited' claims.
3. Figures are total yearly amounts paid to beneficiaries, regardless of the source of funding, and includes payments subsidised by DWP, those funded through local authorities housing revenue accounts, spending financed by the National Asylum Support Service, and benefit spending financed from local authorities' general funds.
Source:
Source:
1. 1998–99—Final Audited Subsidy claim forms submitted by local authorities.
2. 2002–03—Initial Final Claim forms submitted by local authorities.