Cost of report on budget standards for household types

1240/5(2963)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 18th JULY 2006

Question

Would the Minister inform members –

1. how much wasspent in producing the Report on BudgetStandards for Jersey by the CentreforResearchin Social Policy at Loughborough University, (the CRSP Report'), over theyears 1997 to the present day?
2. whether, as said tobe possible in CRSP444inNovember2001,theconsensualbudgets for all household types in Jersey have been up-rated annually orre-costed every 3 yearssince and , if not, the reasons why?
3. whether the levels ofbudgetstandards that were revealedbyCRSPin 2001 have beenup-ratedto2006/7 figures and, if not, the reasons why?and,
4. whether these figures will be applied in establishing thelevelofIncomeSupport in 2007 and, if not, will he explain the reasons why and give the approximate levels he intends to apply?

Answer

1. The Centre for Research in SocialPolicy at Loughborough University was commissioned to develop modest but adequateHouseholdBudgetaryRequirements in Jersey. The research used a consensualmethodology where the budgets werenotpreparedby experts butby the very people that live within the householdtypes. The cost of this budgetary research from 1997to date is £137,260.72.
2. The budgets have not been upratedannually. It is a matter of simple arithmetic toapply the relevantuprating indices to the budgets to produce an up-to-date figure at any particular time. Re-costing the budgets would also be a wasteof time and resource until closer to the implementation ofIncome Support.
3. No;for the same reasons given in (b) above.The setting ofrates has little relevance at this time but will be more significant closer to the implementation ofIncome Support.
4. The research undertakenbyCRSPhasproved invaluable in identifying the type and extentof expenditure within various household types. TheCRSP research produced different budgets for the different Household Types investigated. The reasons for the variations andindeed the similarities within thebudgetstandards were explained in the report andpresentation.The Department has assimilated this knowledge into the

design of the Income Support scheme.

T  hese figures will not be applied directly to establish the level of income support as these only help in

determining a basic living component and there will be more components than this in the Income Support scheme. I, and former Employment and Social Security Committees, believe that different rates of the living component would be divisive. For example pensioners would appear to have lower budgetary standards overall, (which includes heating costs), than other household types. I must re-iterate that these budgets were devised by the relevant household type in Jersey, (pensioners, single parents etc.), and not CRSP nor the Department or former Committee.

T h e Income Support proposals will be based on an adult basic component, a child basic component and a

household  component,  and  extra  components  to  assist  with  the  costs  of  housing,   medical  needs,  and childcare. Further to the publication of the Household Expenditure Survey, additional comparative work and modelling is to be undertaken before the components of Income Support are proposed. As an indication of

the approximate level, I have stated that the basic level will be above the current Parish Welfare Rate.