§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest figure for the number of single payments made for (a) beds, (b) cookers, (c) furniture and (d) heating appliances; and what is the average value of each payment.
§ Mr. WhitneyInformation on the number and average amount of single payments made for specific items is not available. Information from the annual statistical inquiry carried out in December 1982, the latest date for which it is available, is that 419,000 single payments were made in respect of essential furniture and household equipment and that the average payment was £74.62. Figures from the annual statistical inquiry relate to single payments made during the 12 months preceding the date of the inquiry to persons still in receipt of supplementary benefit at the time of the inquiry and do not, therefore, record all the single payments made during the year.