The total amount paid out by the Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit for each month in which payments were made has been:
Month Initial Annual Gross expenditure (£) 2005 December 13 0 36,894 2006 January 15 0 6,371 February 27 0 35,996 March 32 0 20,072 April 45 0 39,000 May 86 0 144,000 June 149 5 213,000 July 187 27 363,355 August 240 66 346,155 September 318 76 311,301 October 377 102 212,399 November 519 118 274,684 December 594 124 686,599 2007 January 751 136 326,659 February 823 153 359,132 March 882 175 506,441 April 937 205 311,721 May 1,014 222 305,209 June 1,073 240 348,517 July 1,116 268 352,981 August 1,419 278 1,955,995 September 2,269 291 1,575,369 October 2,717 320 1,259,933 November 3,064 371 1,146,130 December 3,333 685 1,223,222 2008 January 3,623 844 2,374,841 February 3,868 922 1,227,357 March 4,117 971 1,168,925 April 4,371 1,114 1,073,789 May 4,558 1,202 1,342,270 June 4,938 1,412 4,657,200
While it would be possible to calculate an average payment from these figures, it would not be meaningful due to a number of distorting factors. These include:
where changes to the legislation have resulted in some members receiving substantial payments for entitlement for past periods.
the phased implementation of regulatory changes, i.e. the FAS operational unit are now 51 per cent. of the way through the uplift from 80 to 90 per cent.
in any one month there will be a combination of members receiving payments for past periods, payments only for the current month, payments for part month, and some members that will have had a FAS payment adjusted for pension credit abatement.
There have been no specific legal costs incurred by the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to the operation of the financial assistance scheme. Legal advice on policy and legislation governing FAS assistance levels is provided by departmental lawyers. To disaggregate this advice from other areas of advice would give rise to disproportionate cost.