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Invalidity Benefit

Volume 982: debated on Wednesday 16 April 1980

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asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the cost of invalidity benefits for the year 1979–80 or for any last convenient annual period; and what would be the additional yield to the Inland Revenue in 1980–81 if invalidity benefits were assessed as taxable income;(2) how many persons are estimated to have been in receipt of invalidity benefit continuously throughout the year 1979–80 or throughout any last convenient annual period; what is the estimated cost of invalidity benefit for such persons for the year 1979–80, or for the same convenient annual period as previously referred to; and if invalidity benefit were assessed as taxable income during the year 1980–81, what would be the additional yield to the Inland Revenue.

It is estimated that in 1979–80, expenditure on invalidity benefit was of the order of £1,009 million, of which some £650 million went to the 400,000 people estimated to be in receipt of the benefit continuously throughout the year. An estimate of the yield to Inland Revenue in 1980–81 if invalidity benefit was taxable can only be tentative and subject to a wide margin of error, but it would be of the order of £80 million, most of

PROGRAMME 13: OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES*
£ million at 1979 survey prices
1980–811981–821982–831983–84
Parliament and Privy Council
Economic and financial administration23202020
Central management of the Civil service
Records, registrations and surveys510
Other services16201010
44503030
*All figures have been rounded; 1980–81 to the nearest £1 million; subsequent years to the nearest £10 million; and they do not necessarily sum to the totals.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what provision he has made for expenditure on the Scottish Office Road Safety Unit in the estimates for road and transport published in Cmnd. 7841, public expenditure White Paper.

In Cmnd. 7841 about £36,000 has been provided for salary costs of the Scottish Office Road Safety Unit in 1980–81. There has been no specific allocation of expenditure in subsequent years which would derive from those receiving the benefit for only part of the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services for how much of the period since invalidity benefit was introduced it has been payable at a different rate from the retirement pension.

Since its introduction in 1971, the rate of invalidity benefit for men whose incapacity began before age 60 (for women age 55) has always been higher than the prevailing standard rate of basic retirement pension.