Tag: Benefits

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Contributions on 21st November 1985.

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Mr. Wainwright Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what extent remuneration of employees by way of profit-sharing is exempt from employers’ and employees’ national insurance contributions.

Mr. Major Profits distributed by way of bonuses form part of normal earnings and are therefore liable for national insurance contributions. The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979 specify conditions under which profits distributed through trust funds or certain profit-sharing schemes are disregarded for the purposes of National Insurance contributions.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Child Benefit on 21st November 1985.

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Mrs. Renée Short Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the number of single mothers who have withdrawn claims for child benefit in each single year since 1979, the number of case papers which have been requested from benefit officers’ staff by social security fraud squad officers in each single year since 1979; and if he will list the total number of officers who have been employed by his Department as fraud squad investigators during the same period giving a breakdown of the regions of the country to which they have been assigned.

Mr. Major I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits on 20th November 1985.

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Mr. Andrew Bowden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many pensioner householders he estimates are receiving supplementary benefit additional requirements for service charges and ground rent paid by leaseholders; and what is the average amount of additional requirement paid for this purpose;

(2) how many pensioners living in special leasehold housing schemes for the elderly receive supplementary benefit or housing benefit.

Mr. Major I regret that the information requested is not available.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 19th November 1985.

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Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what will be the total cost of (a) paying a 7 per cent. increase in invalidity benefit to all invalidity pensioners and (b) paying a 7 per cent. increase to all other social security beneficiaries, broken down by category.

Mr. Major I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the cost of this month’s uprating, when the great majority of benefits will increase by 7 per cent. Invalidity benefit will, however, increase by 11.8 per cent. because of the restoration of the 5 per cent. abatement introduced in 1980.

The total net cost of this uprating of invalidity benefit is about £170 million in a full year. The figure takes account of the restoration of the abatement, the introduction by the Social Security Act 1985 of an offset between invalidity allowance and the additional component, and the effect on supplementary benefit entitlement.

The full year net costs of uprating other main benefits are:

Benefit | Cost in £ million

Retirement pension | 1,120

Widows’ benefits | 55

Unemployment benefit | 115

Sickness benefit | 20

Invalid care allowance | 1

Attendance allowance | 45

Severe disablement allowance | 20

Mobility allowance | 30

Industrial injuries benefits | 30

War pensions | 35

Maternity allowance | 15

Child benefit* | 100

One parent benefit | 10

Family income supplement* | 35

Supplementary benefits* | 230

Housing benefit* | —

Notes:

1. All figures are rounded

2. Benefits marked * increase by an amount different from seven per cent.

3. The cost of increasing supplementary benefit and housing benefit is reduced by the relatively higher uprating of other benefits.

The total cost of the uprating is about £2,050 million.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Households on 15th November 1985.

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Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the analysis on the number of low income households from the family expenditure survey data for 1983.

Mr. Major I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 12 November to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, South (Mr. Yeo) at column 161.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 15th November 1985.

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Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many of those currently receiving (a) invalidity pension and (b) other incapacity benefits have claimed a supplementary pension; and how many of these claims were successful;

(2) of the total now receiving invalidity benefit with a supplementary pension, how many will lose their supplementary benefit top-up when invalidity benefit is increased by 7 per cent. and the 5 per cent. abatement is restored; and what will be the estimated savings to his Department as a result of this exercise;

(3) what will be the estimated savings to his Department as a result of not paying supplementary pensions to invalidity benefit recipients.

Mr. Major It is regretted that information is not available about the number who have claimed a supplementary pension. At December 1983, however, the latest date for which information is available, about 9,000 people receiving supplementary pension were also in receipt of an incapacity benefit – sickness benefit, invalidity pension or non-contributory invalidity pension. It is not known how many were receiving an invalidity pension. Information is not therefore available about the number who will lose their entitlement to supplementary pension when invalidity pension is increased by 7 per cent. and the 5 per cent. abatement restored. There will in any case be no overall benefit savings.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Child Benefit on 14th November 1985.

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Mr. Ralph Howell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the saving in public expenditure would be if child benefit was paid at full-rate to people earning up to £100 per week and at half-rate to people earning between £100 and £150 per week and no child benefit when earnings exceed £150 per week.

Mr. Major I shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 14th November 1985.

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Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons are currently in receipt of invalidity pension; and of these what percentage is required to pay prescription charges.

Mr. Major At 2 April 1983, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 737,000 invalidity pensioners of whom 61,500 were over minimum pension age. In December 1983, there were 67,000 invalidity pensioners who were also in receipt of supplementary allowance. In 1983 there were therefore at least 128,500 invalidity pensioners eligible for free prescriptions. In addition, other invalidity pensioners may qualify, e.g. on the grounds of low income or because they suffer from specified medical conditions which exempt them from charges, but I regret that these figures are not available.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 13th November 1985.

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Mr. Home Robertson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many invalidity benefit claimants will receive no increase in their pension this month; and what proportion of the total number of invalidity benefit claimants this represents.

Mr. Major I regret the information will not be available until later next year, but preliminary indications are that the proportion of invalidity pensioners who will get no increase in their benefit this month because their invalidity allowance is offset against their additional component will be very small.