§ Mr. Emeryasked the Minister of Health (1) what is the number of his officials occupied at any time in work on the payment of social benefits of any kind; and what this number represents as a percentage of the total of his officials;
(2) what is the total expenditure on social benefits of any kind in absolute terms of money expended by his Department: and what this represents as a percentage of total expenditure of his Department.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonThe payment of social benefits is not a main function of my Department. Estimated expenditure in 1967–68 on allowances to patients in hospital and payments by way of assistance to disabled persons together amounted to £3.9 million. This represented about 0.3 per cent. of the gross estimated expenditure on my Votes. The number of staff engaged on such payments cannot be readily assessed, but would be small.