§ Mr. Craigenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest number of recipients of supplementary pension or allowance and family income supplement; what is the estimated number of their dependants; how many persons would be entitled to claim certificates of exemption on income grounds from prescription charges; and how many have claimed certificates of exemption on grounds of low income for ophthalmic or dental treatment.
§ Mr. NewtonI shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Raceasked the Secretary of State for Social Service if it is administrative practice in local offices of his Department to require claimants for supplementary benefit or child benefit to divulge the name and address of a child's other parent before a claim can be met.
§ Mr. NewtonThis information may be required when supplementary benefit is claimed but it will depend upon the circumstances of the claim. Normally, it is required to enable the Department to consider whether the other parent has a liability under the Supplementary Benefits Act to support the child and, where the parents are married to each other, the claimant. That liability is usually pursued after the claim has been met, although where the claimant is a married woman with sufficient money to meet her own and her child's immediate needs, the Department would wish to contact the husband immediately to arrange for maintenance to be paid.
Total Supplementary Allowance Recipients Supplementary Pension Recipients Supplementary Benefit Recipients May 1979 February 1982 May 1979 February 1982 May 1979 February 1982 Archway (Highgate) 5,721 9,611 5,550 5,589 11,271 15,200 Wood Green 1,432 3,726 2,410 3,036 3,842 6,762 Tottenham 4,101 8,121 5,443 5,129 9,544 13,250