§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the(a) volume and (b) value of underpayments of benefits to pensioners in each year since 1997. [177908]
§ Malcolm WicksSome information is available for the Minimum Income Guarantee, Retirement Pension and Housing Benefit, but is not available in the format requested. Underpayments of Council Tax Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance and Pension Credit are not included as there are no figures available currently.
Underpayments of benefits to pensioners in receipt of Minimum Income Guarantee which result from claimant and official error are estimated and reported in regular National Statistics publications.
1250WThe latest figures available are:
2001–02: Approx £65 million (equivalent to 1.4 per cent. of total MIG expenditure)2002–03: Approx £68 million (equivalent to 1.5 per cent. of total MIG expenditure)The estimates are based on samples of cases and are therefore subject to sampling error.Underpayments of State Pension resulting from claimant and official error are estimated each year. These estimates are based on very small samples and have large margins of error therefore there is a high variance in the amounts quoted.
The latest figures available are:
1999–2000: Approx £66 million2000–01: Approx £118 million2001–02: Approx £88 million2002–03: Approx £84 millionThese figures are equivalent to between 0.2 per cent. and 0.3 per cent. of expenditure.
For 2002–03 around 8.1 per cent. of all Housing Benefit cases (not pensioner specific) had underpayments associated with them, resulting in underpayments worth around 10 per cent. (approximately £100 million) of total HB expenditure. Many of the underpayments were of small value, hence the difference between the 8.1 per cent. and the 1.0 per cent.
The next Housing Benefit Review report, reporting the level of fraud and error in Housing Benefit (HB) up to September 2003, will be published on 12 August as National Statistics, and will contain a breakdown of HB underpayments for pensioners.
1251W
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much(a) disability benefit and (b) other support has been distributed to eating disorder sufferers in each of the last five years. [179241]
§ Mr. PondThe information requested is not available.
Number of jobseekers allowance sanctions imposed Year to March 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Discharge from HM forces 4 12 5 8 5 6 6 3 Leaving employment voluntarily 36,573 (JSA) 109,994 103,206 86,226 85,965 73,186 77,277 69,381 64,461 (UB) Losing employment through misconduct 7,155 (JSA) 22,357 22,682 18,888 16,430 15,939 16,497 13,760 15,599 (UB) Not taken advantage of an opportunity of employment 86 (JSA) 244 146 85 57 52 38 28 446 (UB) Refusal of employment 4,098 (JSA) 21,906 11,118 19,169 26,370 38,216 43,398 29,679 1,140 (UB) Giving up place on training scheme/employment programme 121 882 3,888 6,146 4,236 2,859 3,232 2,690 Losing place on training scheme/employment programme—misc 183 1,049 2,222 5,671 6,465 6,178 6,954 6,727 Refusal of place on training scheme/employment programme 130 205 380 1,335 838 308 281 347 Not taken advantage of place on a training scheme/employment programme 19 45 527 1,089 956 144 97 97 Failed to attend place on training scheme/employment programme1 310 3,897 7,028 12,637 17,652 19,493 20,383 19,793 Refusal/failure to carry out a JS direction 215 1,027 2,218 7,277 5,542 3,819 3,676 3,755 Total 130,540 161,618 153,420 158,531 164,516 160,200 171,839 146,260 1Including New Deal for Young People Note: JSA was introduced on 7 October 1996 and replaced Unemployment Benefit (UB). Figures are given for both benefits. Source: Labour Market Statistics—Analysis of Sector Decision Making.