Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the North West were in receipt of welfare benefits in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
§ Mr. NewtonI am not sure which benefits the hon. Member has in mind. If, however, he is thinking of supplementary benefit—pensions and allowances—the numbers of recipients in each of the two DHSS regions are as follows:
Numbers of recipients of supplementary benefit DHSS region 1979 (November) 1980 (December) 1981 (December) North West-Manchester 204,000 226,000 272,000 Merseyside 215,000 233,000 277,000 Total 419,000 459,000 549,000