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Family Credit (Wales)
3. Mr. Edwards: How many families are in receipt of family credit in (a) Monmouthshire and (b) Wales. [23054]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security (Mr. Keith Bradley): Figures for Monmouthshire are not available. The latest available figures for the Benefits Agency offices in Newport and Cwmbran reveal that there were approximately 4,000 families receiving family credit.
The latest figures for Wales show that there were approximately 43,000 families receiving family credit.
Mr. Edwards:
Does my hon. Friend agree that family credit is equivalent to the taxpayer subsidising bad employers, especially in Wales, the land of low pay? Does he further agree that the introduction of a national minimum wage will reduce expenditure on family credit and reduce the incidence of poverty pay, as well as the inequality between men and women in the labour market?
Mr. Bradley:
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, which is why the Government's proposals on a national minimum wage are so welcome throughout the nation. I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the immense amount of work that he did on behalf of low-paid workers before he entered the House. The national minimum wage will address that issue.
Mr. Letwin:
Will the Minister tell us whether the earned income tax credit, which we understand is to replace family credit, will be subject to an affluence test?
Mr. Bradley:
As the hon. Gentleman will know, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced in his pre-Budget statement that the Government propose an integrated tax and benefits system, of which that is part. It would not be appropriate for me to comment at this stage on his final plans.
4. Mr. Purchase:
What estimate she has made of future income inequality rates among pensioners. [23055]
Mr. Denham:
We want today's and tomorrow's pensioners to enjoy security in retirement. Estimates show that the gap between the best-off and worst-off pensioners will be even wider in the future than it is today under current policies, so a key objective of the pensions review is to ensure that pensioners have an adequate income in retirement and that they share fairly in rising national prosperity.
Mr. Purchase:
Is it not the case that most people will rely on the state earnings-related pension scheme right through to the early part of the next century? There appears to be some doubt in people's minds about the future value of such pensions. Does my hon. Friend accept that, the more people go into private pensions, the more share churning goes on, the more fees go up and the more arrangement costs increase? In fact, through the rebate, taxpayers' money is going directly into the pockets of the
Mr. Denham:
We said in our manifesto that we shall retain SERPS as an option for those who wish to remain in it; and the pensions review is looking at a wide range of issues relating to the future of pension provision. Many people who enjoy security in retirement have a pension whose income comes from investments. It is possible to create a framework for value-for-money, flexible and secure stakeholder pensions, based on investment income, which can assist those with a basic state pension to enjoy security in retirement.
Mr. Flight:
On the Government's own figures in the November consultative document, I recollect that there are about 40.5 million people with pension provision and 7.5 million without. Will the Minister give an undertaking that improving the position of those without pension provision outside the state will not come at the expense of those who have made provision, by the tax deductibility of pension contributions being reduced? That applies particularly to the over-40s who have made plans and who will find those plans all awry if there is yet another retrospective change in such taxation.
Mr. Denham:
Taxation is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, but I assure the hon. Gentleman that we wish to encourage people to save for their retirement.
5. Ms Moran:
What plans she has to take action to reduce the numbers of false national insurance numbers in circulation. [23056]
The Minister for Welfare Reform (Mr. Frank Field):
The Government attach the highest importance to safeguarding the integrity of the national insurance system and its numbers system. There is a programme under way that is looking at the validity of each number: 750,000 numbers have been checked so far and the programme continues.
Ms Moran:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that helpful reply and ask that he investigates an issue raised with me by members of the Luton jobcentre and Benefits Agency, with whom I recently worked for a day. They expressed concern about the estimated 14 million to 17 million national insurance numbers in circulation, which might be subject to abuse. I am sure that he will want to address that issue, so that we can start to modernise our benefits system, get rid of the shambles that we inherited from the previous Tory Government and ensure that benefits are targeted on the most needy.
Mr. Field:
To the three points that my hon. Friend raises, the answers are yes, yes and yes. In addition, section 19 of the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997, which is coming into operation over time, ensures that claims to benefit are made dependent on the
Mr. Sayeed:
The Prime Minister said that benefit fraud cost this country £4 billion to £5 billion a year. Does the Minister agree?
Mr. Field:
The Government have always been careful about giving estimates of the amount of benefit fraud. It is sensible for the whole House to accept that we have a duty to be ever vigilant on behalf of taxpayers. That is the approach taken by the Government.
Mrs. Mahon:
Is my right hon. Friend in a position to tell us how many of the national insurance numbers already examined are false?
Mr. Field:
Of the more than three quarters of a million national insurance numbers that have been checked, there have been 133,000 plus duplicate accounts. A number of them are being studied for further investigation. I shall be happy to report progress to the House and to my hon. Friend on that basis.
6. Mr. Allan:
What estimate she has made of the number of new applicants for lone-parent benefits from Yorkshire in the year beginning April 1998. [23057]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
It is estimated that around 25,000 new awards of income support will be made to lone parents in Yorkshire in 1998-99. Similar estimates cannot be made for new awards of the lone-parent rate of child benefit.
Mr. Allan:
While any measures that help lone parents who are looking for paid work are welcome, does the Minister acknowledge that a proportion of those new claimants will wish to work full time at home, bringing up their young children? Does he accept that they do so with the best possible motive, of lone parents having to provide the parental contact of two parents? Will the Minister consider reinstating extra benefit for lone parents with children under five?
Mr. Bradley:
I understand the hon. Gentleman's concern. All families will now receive the same rates of child benefit and family premium, but existing lone parents will continue to receive the higher rates--there will be no cash losers. We have brought forward the new deal for lone parents, and an extra £25 million has been made available under the new deal, to lone parents who wish to work and whose youngest child is under five.
Ms Ward:
Is my hon. Friend aware that in many parts of the country, including Yorkshire, lone parents are attempting to improve their education by going to university to study and are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their mortgage, study full time and raise their children? Will my hon. Friend consider providing extra support for those lone parents and making a statement to the House at a future date?
Mr. Bradley:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her comments. I encountered a similar constituency case just
Mr. Ian Bruce:
Has the Minister been able to make an estimate for Yorkshire--or if he does not have that exact figure, for the rest of the United Kingdom--of the proportion of lone mothers who will come off benefit because of changes in circumstances in the first full year, such as going to work or finding a new partner? What proportion of existing lone mothers on premiums will come off benefit in the first year?
Mr. Bradley:
I understand the hon. Gentleman's comments. I do not have those estimates, but I shall write to him with an evaluation of the point that he raised.
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