§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the numbers of working families in Wales living below the supplementary benefit level.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Estimates of the number of working families in Great Britain with incomes below the supplementary benefit level are based on Family Expenditure Survey data. The number of sample cases is too small to permit any reliable estimate to be made for Wales.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the number of national assistance-supplementary benefit claimants for Wales in 1948 and the latest year available; and if she will break down this information in the same way as it is presented in Social Trends Number 4, table 50.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Comparable information is not available for years prior to 1951. That for 1951 and 1974 is as follows:
341W
1974 1951 (provisional) Retirement pensioners and national insurance widows aged 60 years and over 61,800 98,400 Others over pension age 5,700 6,500 Unemployed with national insurance benefit 3,800 5,100 Unemployed without national insurance benefit 2,600 15,300 Sick and disabled with national insurance benefit 11,900 8,100 Sick and disabled without national insurance benefit 12,200 12,500 Women under 60 with dependent children 4,200 14,500 National insurance widows under 60 10,500 3,900 Others 7,100 1,900 Total persons receiving supplementary benefit 119,800 166,400 —of whom wage stopped (unemployed) Not available 500
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Reportthe ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of net average weekly earnings of male manual workers in Wales for each year since 1948.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Information for years prior to 1967 is not available. That for 1967 to date is as follows:
Year Singlehouseholder Marriedcouple 1967 … … 39 53 1968 … … 39 53 1969 … … 38 52 1970 … … 37 50 1971 … … 38 52 1972 … … 34 48 1973 … … 32 45 1974 … … 36 49
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of gross average weekly earnings of male manual workers in Wales for each year since 1948.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Information for years prior to 1967 is not available. That for 1967 to date is as follows:
Year Singlehouseholder Marriedcouple 1967 … … 29 42 1968 … … 29 42 1969 … … 28 40 1970 … … 26 38 1971 … … 27 38 1972 … … 25 37 1973 … … 23 34 1974 … … 25 36
§ Mrs. Bainasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the number of national assistance-supplementary benefit claimants for Scotland in 1948 and the latest year available; and if she will break down this information in the same way as it is presented in "Social Trends" Number 4, table 50.
342W
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Comparable information is not available for years prior to 1951. That for 1951 and 1974 is as follows:
1974 1951 (provisional) Retirement pensioners and national insurance widows aged 60 years and over 68,000 164,000 Others over pension age 9,400 10,500 Unemployed with national insurance benefit 6,200 9,700 Unemployed without national insurance benefit 8,900 35,100 Sick and disabled with national insurance benefit 14,900 10,300 Sick and disabled without national insurance benefit 17,000 18,700 Women under 60 with dependent children 5,800 25,100 National insurance widows under 60 11,200 5,200 Others 9,200 2,300 Total persons receiving supplementary benefit 150,600 281,000 —of whom wage stopped (unemployed) Not available 1,600
§ Mr. Robin F. Cookasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of net weekly earnings of male manual workers in Scotland for each year since 1948, or the longest convenient period.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:Information for years prior to 1967 is not available. That for 1967 to date is as follows:
Year Single householder Married couple 1967 … … 36 51 1968 … … 36 51 1969 … … 36 51 1970 … … 36 51 1971 … … 39 53 1972 … … 35 49 1973 … … 33 46 1974 … … 35 49
§ Mr. Robin F. Cookasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of gross 343W average weekly earnings of male manual workers in Scotland for each year since 1948, or the longest convenient period.
§ Mr. Alec Jones:information for years prior to 1967 is not available.1967 to date is as follows:
Year Singlehouseholder Marriedcouple 1967 … … 27 40 1968 … … 26 39 1969 … … 27 39 1970 … … 26 38 1971 … … 27 39 1972 … … 26 38 1973 … … 24 35 1974 … … 24 35
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 Cohabitation cases investigated 209 256 327 398 493 538 523 Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced 104 103 121 128 155 180 208 Fictitious desertion cases investigated 60 50 97 110 91 94 101 Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced 35 27 40 45 32 43 41 Number of prosecutions authorised (cohabitation and fictitious desertion)* † † † 53 31 28 31 * Separate figures for cohabitation and fictitious desertion cases are not kept on a regional basis. † Not available.
§ Mr. Rifkindasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many beneficiaries have been thought to be cohabiting or claiming fictitious desertion in Scotland for each year since 1968, the
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 Cohabitation cases investigated … 310 324 421 388 471 441 703 Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced … 201 185 257 199 246 260 413 Number of completed prosecutions … * 15 16 12 26 43 63 Fictitious desertion cases investigated 113 125 126 87 93 94 145 Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced … 82 85 84 49 44 50 85 Number of completed prosecutions … * 17 13 26 18 9 14 * Not available.