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Carers

Volume 455: debated on Tuesday 16 January 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's total expenditure on carers was each year since 1990-91 in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms using 2004-05 prices; what the planned expenditure is in 2006-07 in the same terms; and if he will make a statement. (103995)

The information is in the following tables.

Great Britain—Cash terms

£ million

Status

(a) Carer's allowance

(b) Income support—received by carers

(c) Income support / pension credit—carer premium over-60s

(d) Income support—carer premiums received by other income support recipients under-60s

Total expenditure on carers

1990-91

outturn

208

9

1

4

222

1991-92

outturn

285

18

3

9

315

1992-93

outturn

345

50

5

19

419

1993-94

outturn

442

57

7

29

535

1994-95

outturn

526

73

11

43

653

1995-96

outturn

617

97

14

56

784

1996-97

outturn

736

111

17

67

931

1997-98

outturn

746

118

20

66

950

1998-99

outturn

782

116

21

69

988

1999-2000

outturn

835

118

24

72

1,049

2000-01

outturn

867

126

26

76

1,095

2001-02

outturn

932

172

51

106

1,261

2002-03

outturn

993

182

63

118

1,356

2003-04

outturn

1,054

201

81

128

1,464

2004-05

outturn

1,096

202

130

132

1,560

2005-06

estimated outturn

1,149

173

178

132

1,632

2006-07

plans

1,201

180

205

145

1,731

Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Great Britain—Real terms, at 2004-05 prices

£ million

Status

(a) Carer's allowance

(b) Income support—received by carers

(c) Income support / pension credit—carer premium over-60s

(d) Income support—carer premiums received by other income support recipients under-60s

Total expenditure on carers

1990-91

outturn

308

13

1

6

329

1991-92

outturn

398

25

4

13

440

1992-93

outturn

467

68

7

26

567

1993-94

outturn

583

75

9

38

705

1994-95

outturn

683

95

14

56

848

1995-96

outturn

778

122

18

71

988

1996-97

outturn

897

135

21

82

1,135

1997-98

outturn

884

140

24

78

1,125

1998-99

outturn

903

134

24

80

1,141

1999-2000

outturn

946

134

27

82

1,188

2000-01

outturn

968

141

29

85

1,223

2001-02

outturn

1,017

188

56

116

1,376

2002-03

outturn

1,051

193

67

125

1,435

2003-04

outturn

1,083

207

83

132

1,504

2004-05

outturn

1,096

202

130

132

1,560

2005-06

estimated outturn

1,128

170

175

130

1,602

2006-07

plans

1,148

172

196

139

1,654

Notes:

1. Expenditure on carers has been interpreted to include the following: a. total carer's allowance expenditure; b. total income support expenditure who are entitled to income support by virtue of being a carer. People who are unemployed, lone parents or disabled and who also receive a carer premium are counted in column d. The figures quoted include people who were unemployed and entitled to income support prior to the introduction of income based jobseeker's allowance in October 1996; c. carer premium entitlement for people in receipt of income support (for people over 60 years of age) and pension credit; d. expenditure on the carer premium for carers who are on income support by virtue of being unemployed, lone parents or disabled. 2. Income support carer expenditure [(b) in the tables] has been estimated using caseload and average weekly amount data. 3. Pension credit and income support expenditure [(c) and (d) in the tables] has been estimated using caseloads and carer premium rates. 4. Carer premium expenditure has been quoted in full. It has not been reduced, or offset, by any income received by the beneficiary of the benefit. 5. The income support carer premium was introduced in October 1990. The first caseload information was collected in May 1991, so the income support expenditure quoted in the tables has been estimated using administration data for 1991-92. 6. All figures have been rounded to the nearest million pounds. 7. Expenditure is consistent with the 2006 pre-Budget report. 8. Carer's allowance replaced invalid care allowance on 1 April 2003. 9. Pension credit replaced income support, for people over 60 years of age, on 5 October 2003. 10. DWP expenditure tables, which will soon be updated to be consistent with the 2006 pre-Budget report, can be viewed at the following web address: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 11. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP expenditure tables, departmental accounting systems, 5 per cent. samples of departmental administrative records and the Department's expenditure forecasting models.