Social Security Benefits: Na h-Eileanan an Iar

Mr. MacNeil
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of attendance allowance in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average weekly payment was of that allowance in that constituency in that period.

Jonathan Shaw
Attendance allowance provides an important non-contributory, non-income-related and tax free cash contribution towards the extra costs of severely disabled people. The Government are committed to providing real help to disabled people, particularly through the early stages of economic recovery. This is why the Chancellor announced in the December 2009 pre-Budget report that attendance allowance would be increased by 1.5 per cent.—bringing forward help when it is most needed. Without this commitment, the recent negative growth in the retail prices index would have meant that this benefit would not have increased in 2010.

The information requested is in the table.

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|Attendance allowance                                                                                                                                                                                               |Number/£|
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|Number of cases in payment                                                                                                                                                                                         |1,150   |
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|Average weekly amount paid (£)                                                                                                                                                                                     |60.55   |
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|Notes:1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10.2. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny.Source:Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.|        |
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