§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of men aged 60 years or over in (a) West Yorkshire, (b) Greater Manchester, (c) Kirklees and (d) Oldham at the latest convenient date who had opted for the long-term rate of supplementary benefit and were not registering for work having been unemployed and drawing supplementary benefit for a year or more.
§ Mr. WaddingtonI understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services that at February it is estimated that the number of men aged 60 and over who had exercised their choice of opting for the long-term rate of supplementary benefit, and would therefore be removed from the unemployment register, was as follows:
West Yorkshire 1,100 Greater Manchester 1,400 Source: February 1982 DHSS Quarterly Sample Inquiry.
The estimates are from a 1 in 50 sample of cases in local supplementary benefit offices and so for such small numbers should be regarded only as measuring the order of magnitude and not the exact number of cases: the number in the samples for Kirklees and Oldham were very small for a reliable estimate to be made but indicate a total of about 100 in each area.