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22 Apr 2008 : Column 2003W—continued

Housing Benefit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to publish information on the level of shortfalls experienced by (a) existing housing benefit claimants and (b) local housing allowance claimants by (i) number of bedrooms, (ii) local authority area and (iii) broad rental market area for each quarter of 2008-09. [200091]

22 Apr 2008 : Column 2004W

Mr. Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions currently monitors information on shortfalls but has no immediate plans to publish this on a regular basis.

The Department is, however, considering publication of information on average shortfalls as part of the Two Year Review of the Local Housing Allowance. The format in which this data will be published has yet to be finalised but we will give consideration to quarterly monitoring at broad market rental area level.

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will issue guidance to local authorities on identifying claimants who may be able to make a backdated claim for housing benefit or council tax benefit. [200095]

Mr. Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions claim forms for housing benefit and council tax benefit make it clear that benefit can be paid from an earlier date than the date the claim is received where there is good reason to do so.

A separate section of the claim form asks customers who want to have their claims paid earlier to provide a date from which they wish to claim benefit and to provide the reasons why they have not claimed sooner.

Local authorities can issue their own claim forms where the customer contacts them direct rather than through the Department for Work and Pensions. In these circumstances, guidance recommends that the content of those forms is similar to the Department for Work and Pensions claim forms. So in practice, customers should be offered the choice of having their claim backdated where appropriate.

Currently claims from pensioners are automatically considered for backdating for up to 12 months.

Incapacity Benefit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2008, Official Report, column 780W, on social security benefits, how many people were claiming incapacity benefit while living abroad in each year since 1998, broken down by reason for their claim. [199918]

Mrs. McGuire: The primary diagnosis does not of itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefits. Entitlement is dependent upon the medical test of incapacity for work, the Personal Capability Assessment. The available information is in the following table.

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22 Apr 2008 : Column 2006W

Working age incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA) claimants who are living abroad by primary diagnosis
As at May each year
	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Certain infectious and parasitic diseases	100	100	90	80	100	100	100	90	90	100
Neoplasms	100	100	220	230	250	290	310	300	320	310
Diseases of the blood and blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism	0	100	20	20	20	20	20	10	10	10
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases	200	100	220	210	200	220	210	210	200	180
Mental and behavioural disorders	1,800	1,900	2,350	2,490	2,650	2,830	2,990	3,110	3,200	3,220
Diseases of the nervous system	500	400	680	720	740	800	850	900	940	930
Diseases of the eye and adnexa	100	0	80	80	80	80	110	110	110	110
Diseases of the ear and mastoid process	100	100	50	50	50	40	50	50	50	60
Diseases of the circulatory system	800	800	1,130	1,090	1,090	1,080	1,110	1,110	1,040	1,020
Diseases of the respiratory system	300	300	330	320	320	320	320	300	280	270
Diseases of the digestive system	100	100	200	190	210	220	230	230	220	210
Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous system	0	0	60	60	60	60	70	70	70	60
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue	2,400	2,300	2,330	2,440	2,570	2,730	2,860	3,010	2,990	2,980
Diseases of the genitourinary system	100	100	90	100	90	90	100	100	100	100
Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium	0	0	10	10	10	10	10	10	0	10
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities	100	100	50	40	40	60	60	60	70	70
Symptoms, signs and abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified	1,900	1,700	1,710	1,630	1,620	1,560	1,500	1,540	1,450	1,440
Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes	400	400	520	550	600	650	690	750	750	750
Others	100	100	80	70	80	90	100	110	110	100
Notes: 1. Caseload figures prior to May 2000 are rounded to the nearest 100, and to the nearest 10 thereafter. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. IB/SDA claimant figures include all IB and SDA (including IB credits only cases). 4. Caseload figures prior to May 2000 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and rated up proportionally using 100 per cent. WPLS totals. 5. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. 6. ‘Others’ are those recipients not categorised in any of the above. Source: DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data—May 2000 onwards IAD Information Centre 5 per cent samples - May 1998 to May 1999

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