§ Mr. David Youngasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many unemployed have received social security benefit in each year since 1979 in Bolton; what percentage of the population of Bolton this represents; and what are the comparable figures for the whole of the United Kingdom.
§ Dr. BoysonThe numbers of supplementary benefits cases of unemployed people handled by the Bolton local office in December each year from 1979 onwards is as follows:
Thousands December 1979 2.5 December 1980 4.2 December 1981 7.1 December 1982 8.3 December 1983 8.8 (thousands) The office and local authority boundaries are not conterminous; the size of the population served by the former is therefore not known.
The figures for the United Kingdom are as follows:
(a) (b) Unemployed claimants receiving supplementary benefits and percentage of total population thousands percentage December 1979 600.9 1.1 December 1980 920.6 1.7 December 1981 1,4769.6 2.7 December 1982 1,783.9 3.3 December 1983 1,883.2 3.5