§ 38. Mr. Prenticeasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will give the figures of the number of families receiving weekly National Assistance grants in supplementation of unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, retirement pensions, including contributory old-age pensions and widows' benefits, including the 10s. widows' pension, for January, 1958, and each subsequent month for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am informed by the National Assistance Board that the numbers of weekly assistance grants paid as supplements to National Insurance benefits are counted in the months of March, June, September and December.
25 I will, with permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the figures available since December, 1957.
§ Mr. PrenticeI appreciate that the figures I asked for are too many to be quoted by the Minister in the House, but does he agree that a very substantial figure is involved in all these classes, and does not he think that there is a strong case for
| Weekly assistance grants paid as supplements to | Numbers in | |||||
| December, 1957 | March, 1958 | June, 1958 | September, 1958 | |||
| Unemployment Benefit | … | … | 41,000 | 50,000 | 45,000 | 48,000 |
| Sickness Benefit | … | … | 116,000 | 111,000 | 106,000 | 105,000 |
| Retirement Pension (including contributory old age pension) | … | … | 978,000 | 890,000 | 879,000 | 883,000 |
| Widows' Benefit (including 10s. basic pensions) | … | … | 61,000 | 54,000 | 53,000 | 51,000 |
| Note.—The figures include recipients living alone as well as those living within family groups. |