To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what rate of interest her Department used in calculations of entitlements and payments under the Support for Mortgage Interest Scheme in each of the last 12 months. (316746)

The standard interest rate used to calculate Support for Mortgage Interest was 6.08 per cent. in each of the last 12 months.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Support for Mortgage Interest Scheme funding recipients reached the maximum two-year period permitted for claiming in each of the last eight quarters. (316802)

The two-year period limit for jobseekers claiming Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) was introduced in January 2009. It applies only to customers receiving jobseeker's allowance.

No SMI customer has been affected by the introduction of this two-year limit because it is less than two years since it was introduced. The earliest date that a jobseeker could be affected by the two year limit is 5 January 2011 assuming continuous receipt of jobseeker's allowance including SMI throughout the two year period.