The additional single parent component of Income Support

1240/5/1(628)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. OUEN

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2017

Question

Will the Minister, in respect of the additional single parent component of Income Support, advise –

1. how many claimants received the component in the 12-month period prior to its removal on 1st November 2015;
2. how many of those claimants received the component for the first time during that 12-month period;
3. how many of those claimants were still in receipt of the component on 31st October 2015;
4. what the total amount of the component paid to claimants was in the 12-month period prior to 1st November 2015;
5. what the breakdown of the amount given in the answer to (d) above was, shown in the following bands:

1. Payments from £0.01 to £10.00 per week;
2. Payments from £10.01 to £20.00 per week;
3. Payments from £20.01 to £30.00 per week;
4. Payments from £30.01 to £40.39 per week;

6. how many of the claimants who received the component in the 12-month period prior to 1st November 2015 were also in receipt of regular maintenance income for a child; and
7. what the average weekly amount was of maintenance income for a child received by those claimants?

Answer

Will the Minister, in respect of the additional single parent component of Income Support, advise –

1. how many claimants received the component in the 12-month period prior to its removal on 1st November 2015;

1,573 unique claimants are recorded as receiving the additional single parent component at some point in the period 01/11/14 to 31/10/15. This total includes claimants who received the component for part of the period and for the full period.

2. how many of those claimants received the component for the first time during that 12-month period;

196 claimants are recorded as receiving the additional single parent component for the first time in the period 01/11/14 to 31/10/15.

3. how many of those claimants were still in receipt of the component on 31st October 2015; In total there were 1,276 claims recorded with a lone parent component at 31st October 2015
4. what the total amount of the component paid to claimants was in the 12-month period prior to 1st November 2015;

The value of the additional single parent component was £40.39 per week throughout the entire period. The average net amount received (once income has been taken into account) was £26.80 per week. The total net value is £1.8 million; this calculation is based on the pro-rated proportion of the total benefit that a household would receive with all components and all income taken into account.

5. what the breakdown of the amount given in the answer to (d) above was, shown in the following bands:

1. Payments from £0.01 to £10.00 per week;
2. Payments from £10.01 to £20.00 per week;
3. Payments from £20.01 to £30.00 per week;
4. Payments from £30.01 to £40.39 per week;

The breakdown of the average net amount attributable to the additional single parent component is shown in the table below. Note that this represents the average over the entire 12 month period – some claimants will only have been in receipt of the additional single parent component for part of the period and in many cases the benefit payable will have fluctuated due to changes in income and other circumstances.

Band  Count of Claims £0.01 - £10.00  138 £10.01 - £20.00  297 £20.01 - £30.00  475 £30.01 - £40.39  674

6. how many of the claimants who received the component in the 12-month period prior to 1st November 2015 were also in receipt of regular maintenance income for a child; and

799  claimants  were  in  receipt  of  maintenance  at  the  same  time  as  being  in  receipt  of the additional single parent component at some point in the 12-month period prior to 1st November 2015. Maintenance can be paid in respect of a partner or a child. It should be noted that this figure is likely to include some claims where the maintenance payment and the additional single parent component were not always in payment at the same time.

7. what (is) the average weekly amount was of maintenance income for a child received by those claimants?

The average amount of maintenance in respect of the 799 claimants identified in (f) was £55.38 per week in the 12-month period prior to 1st November 2015