Baroness Hollis of Heigham: This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the noble Countess. Letter to the Countess of Mar from the Working Age Services Director of the Benefits Agency, Mr Alexis Cleveland, dated 1 February 2000. The Secretary of State has asked Peter Mathison to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about how many members of the Department of...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Data on debt are already collected as part of our research focused on specific groups of social security benefit recipients. For example, the Programme of Research into Low Income Families (PRILIF) provides information on debt for families with dependent children receiving benefits. The PRILIF studies have included questions about family welfare, involving debt in terms of borrowing, use of...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Our policy is to help prevent family breakdown which can lead to young people leaving home. That is why it has instituted a range of policies across departments to support children and families. The recent publication of the Connexions strategy document illustrates our commitment to transform the support young people receive as they make the transition from adolescence to adult and working...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The Government Actuary recommends a minimum balance in the National Insurance Fund of 16.7 per cent of benefit expenditure or £7.75 billion for 1999-2000. He estimates that the actual balance at 31 March 2000 will be £13.786 billion. The proportion of the Social Security budget funded by national insurance contributions for 1999-2000 is expected to be 50 per cent. We have already announced...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 31st January be approved [8th Report from the Joint Committee].
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, as noble Lords are aware, this annual order and the other standing in my name on the Order Paper are an important part of DSS business. The order increases most of the social security benefit rates from this April. Most national insurance and non-contributory benefits will increase by an RPI of 1.1 per cent. Most income-related benefits will increase in line with the Rossi index of...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, I am sorry. It is not my fault.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, we have had a short, but, as usual, to-the-point debate, with some detailed questions. I shall do my best to answer the points raised. I have been scribbling away during the debate. If I have overlooked any points, I shall follow them up with correspondence. The noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, did a splendid attacking job, although I hope that she will accept that perhaps not all the...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, I am doing my honourable best to answer the points raised by the noble Baroness. Had she not raised invalidity benefit and what she regards as the inappropriate response of government, I would not now be seeking to respond to her points. If I am guilty of anything, it is of attempting to answer the noble Baroness's question. Finally, the noble Baroness raised, as did the noble Earl,...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, I beg to move the second Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. I have already spoken to it. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 31st January be approved [8th Report from the Joint Committee].--(Baroness Hollis of Heigham.)
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, I have not had prior notice of these questions. However, it is not a debate on transport.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for initiating the debate. I should also like to thank--at least I think so--the young researchers of the Rowntree report for doing their best to hold us up to the mark, however uncomfortable that may be on occasion. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, vigorously described the major contributions tonight, which to...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: My Lords, I am not sure that I shall be able to satisfy the noble Earl by responding tonight. However, perhaps I may put it another way. I did some "ready reckoner" sums. We could increase all benefits by £10 per week. That would be useful and might pay for an extra couple of pints of milk and a yoghurt each day, or two cinema tickets at the end of the week. However, people would still be...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: State pensions are being paid to new pensioners within the normal clearance target timescales. However, due to problems relating to the introduction of the NIRS2 computer system, the additional pension component is not being paid immediately in some cases. The Benefits Agency has put in place contingency arrangements to make clearical calculations of the additional pension component to...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The highest known current weekly payment 1 is made by a client of the Independent Living (Extension) Fund who is contributing £275.26 towards the cost of the care package. The Fund's payment is £152.29 per week and the client's remaining weekly income is £219.67. The changes to the earnings disregard which my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State announced on 27...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Such information as is available is set out below. There is consistent evidence of an association between damp and mouldy housing and reports of respiratory symptoms in children. However, this association is not at present attributable to any specific fungi or bacteria in the air. Research is being carried out in this area and on the health effects of dust particles. Analysis of some factors...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The information is in the table. Christmas bonus annually uprated by Value Additional cost Prices £77.35 £927m Earnings £120.30 £1,517m The higher of prices or earnings £128.15 £1,625m Notes: 1. Values are for the year 2000-01 ie bonus payable at Christmas 2000. 2. The Retail Prices Index (all items) has been used, as published by the Office for National Statistics....
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The estimated total expenditure on the Christman Bonus in 1999 was £137 million. Notes: 1. Figures are consistent with projections of DSS Annually Managed Expenditure published in the November 1999 Pre-Budget Report. 2. Expenditure rounded to the nearest £ million. 3. Christmas bonus is paid to people who meet the qualifying conditions, including people under State pension age.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The information is in the table. April 2000 Value of Income Support Capital Limits, Caseload and Expenditure Changes if Uprated since Date Introduced Uprated by Lower/Child's (£'s) Higher (£'s) Extra Caseload (000's) Increased costs (£ million) Prices 4,701 11,382 15 20 Earnings 5,728 12,798 30 45 Best(1) 5,817 12,998 30 50 Notes: (i) Prices are rounded to the...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The information is in the table. Limit (£000) Floaters on to IS (000's) Total IS Costs (£ millions) Total IRB cost (£ millions) 16 55 90 240 20 70 110 310 40 105 160 495 50 115 175 535 Note: Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 5,000, and expenditure to the nearest £5 million. The floaters-on are by number of claims rather than total numbers of people...