HC Deb 12 July 1923 vol 166 cc1579-80
89. Mr. W. THORNE

asked the Minister of Health the number of persons in receipt of Poor Law relief in England and Wales at the end of March; if he is aware that the total number of unemployed and their dependants receiving relief in their own homes was 703,000 in March, and that 636,000 belong to families whose heads were insured under the Unemployed Insurance Act; and if he can state the number of persons per 10,000 of the population receiving relief at the end of March?

Lord E. PERCY

The total number of persons in receipt of Poor Law relief in England and Wales, excluding special classes such as lunatics in asylums, at the end of March, 1923, was 1,345,634, or 355 per 10,000 of the population. The figures quoted by the hon. Member as to the numbers of unemployed and their dependants receiving relief in their own homes are correct.