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Dept of Social Security

Answer

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much (a) attendance allowance remained unclaimed by disabled people, (b) income support remained unclaimed by pensioners and (c) social security payments remained unclaimed in Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [27146] Mr. Denham: Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows: An estimate of take-up of Attendance Allowance for Great Britain, based on the disability follow-up to the 1996-97 Family Resources Survey, should be published later in the year. It may be possible to estimate take-up separately for Wales if sample sizes allow. It is estimated that in 1995-96, the amount of Income Support unclaimed by pensioners in Wales was between £60 million and £90 million. In the same year, the total amount of Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Family Credit unclaimed in Wales is estimated to be between £170 million and £260 million. Notes: 1. All take-up estimates exclude the self-employed as their entitlement to income-related benefits cannot readily be established from survey data. 2. Estimates for Wales should be regarded as indicative only, as they are based on modest sample sizes.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

306 c624W;306 c622W; 27146

Session

1997-98

Subjects

Disability Applications Attendance allowance Income support Pensioners Social security benefits Wales Take-up

Contains statistics

Yes