§ 44. Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will give the number of persons who received National Assistance in Rochdale for each of the years 1951 to 1957, and the total payments made in each of these years.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs the answer contains a table of figures, I will, with permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the number of persons in receipt of National Assistance for the years in question in the county borough about which the hon. Member is concerned. I have, for the sake of completeness, added a figure for the current year. I regret that the figures for payments are not available.
§ Mr. LewisCan the Minister say whether generally they have gone up or down and whether the payments, generally, have gone up or down? I wanted to know whether he could give some idea whether or not increases have been made because of the effects of the Rent Act? Did the recipients of these payments have to be given extra because of rent increases under that Act?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs regards the amount of payments, as these are made through post offices the figures are not available, but, as to the number of grants, I am sure the hon. Member will be very relieved and reassured to know 806 that in the table the figure for the current year is the lowest since 1951.
Following are the figures:Number of persons receiving weekly National Assistance grants in the areas served by the National Assistance Board's office at Rochdale, which includes some urban districts outside the county borough.
| Number of grants current | |||
| December, 1951 | … | … | 3,559 |
| December, 1952 | … | … | 4,366 |
| December, 1953 | … | … | 6,394 |
| December, 1954 | … | … | 4,786 |
| December, 1955 | … | … | 4,083 |
| December, 1956 | … | … | 4,189 |
| December, 1957 | … | … | 4,296 |
| January, 1958 | … | … | 4,034 |