Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of Support for Mortgage Interest claimants in each region in England.

The table below provides forecasts of the caseload for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) in 2017/18 by English region.

Notes:

• Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000 cases and may not sum due to rounding.

• DWP does not hold a single source of data on SMI claims to analyse. Analysis of regional SMI caseloads are based on DWP’s Quarterly Statistical Extract (QSE) data. QSE is a quarterly 5 per cent sample of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support (IS) and Pension Credit (PC) claimants. Quality assured data at regional level is not available for ESA or UC claimants receiving SMI. In the absence of data, it has been assumed that the regional breakdown of ESA claimants is the same as the JSA, IS and PC caseload. It is estimated that in 2017/18 under 1% of the SMI caseload claimed UC; these cases are not included in the figures in the table above.
• Estimates use QSE data over four quarters up to August 2017 and are calibrated to the 2017/18 SMI caseload forecast published in the Spring Statement benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2018.