Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons in the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County have applied for mobility allowances; and how many applications were rejected.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisFigures are not available for Greater Manchester as such, but the figures for the North-West—Manchester—Region as a whole as at 10th January 1977 were 2,751 awards and 1,475 rejections. This compares with 34,778 awards and 15,147 rejections at that date for Great Britain. In both cases, rejections of claimants whose age-groups are not yet among those eligible to receive the allowance are included. The disproportionate number of rejections in the North-West Region may well have stemmed from a requirement at one time on the part of some local authorities in the Region that applicants for free bus passes should produce a mobility allowance rejection notice. I understand that the requirement no longer exists in any part of the region.