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Dept for Work and Pensions

Answer

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the average pension credit payment is to pensioners in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK; [155845] (2) what the average minimum income guarantee payment is to pensioners in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK; [155846] (3) how many pensioners are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of pension credit in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) Tyne and Wear, (iv) the North East and (v) the UK; [155890] (4) how many pensioners were in receipt of the minimum income guarantee in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK at the last date on which it was paid; [155952] (5) how many pensioners are eligible for the minimum income guarantee in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the United Kingdom. [156022] Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of people who are eligible for pension credit is not available in respect of individual local authority areas or parliamentary constituencies. However, we estimate that around 250,000 pensioner households in the North East Government Office Region (GOR) and around 3.8 million pensioner households in Great Britain are eligible for pension credit. Information on numbers of pension credit recipients and average awards in the areas mentioned is given in the table. Pension credit recipients in Great Britain, the North East, Tyne and Wear, South Tyneside and Jarrow, 31 January 2004 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Households Individuals Average weekly award per household (£) Great Britain 2,172,280 2,610,450 43.50 North East GOR 130,080 157,750 38.45 Tyne and Wear 60,710 73,325 39.09 South Tyneside 9,385 11,305 39.18 Jarrow parliamentary constituency 4,835 5,890 38.45 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: 1. Numbers of recipients have been rounded to the nearest five. 2. Average weekly awards have been rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Numbers of recipients exclude small numbers of clerical cases. At 31 January there were approximately 8,370 such cases in Great Britain, of which approximately 505 were in the North East GOR. 4. Average weekly awards refer to the amount received by households, which may be a single person or a couple. Information on minimum income guarantee is not available in the form requested. Since 6 October 2003 pension credit has replaced the minimum income guarantee and the 1.8 million cases receiving minimum income guarantee prior to 6 October were automatically transferred to pension credit. Following the introduction of pension credit, some elements of the support previously provided through minimum income guarantee are now provided through local authority funding for people in care homes, and through tax credits for children. In addition, average pension credit awards are expected to be lower than minimum income guarantee because a savings credit of up to £14.79 (single) or £19.20 (couples) is available for people with modest incomes above the guarantee level who previously received nothing from minimum income guarantee. Information on the average weekly award and the number of minimum income guarantee recipients in the areas mentioned as at August 2003 appears in the following table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. £ per week Recipients (thousand) Jarrow parliamentary constituency 44.44 3.8 South Tyneside 44.55 8.1 Tyne and Wear 43.70 51.3 North East GOR 44.30 106.2 Great Britain 50.23 1,802.6 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Note: Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. Source: IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. sample.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

418 c317-8W; 155845;155846;155890;155952;156022

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Income support Pension credit Pensioners North East Tyne and Wear South Tyneside Jarrow

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk