§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how information is recorded in his Department's offices regarding those people in receipt of (a) death grant, (b) maternity allowance, (c) special diet supplement and (d) special laundry supplement.
§ Mr. WhitneyInformation on claims to social security benefits is recorded on claim forms. Statistics for the benefits in question are produced as follows:
Death Grant—Local offices produce four-weekly returns of claims. Statistics of awards are produced quarterly using a national sample.
Maternity Allowance — Local offices produce four-weekly returns of claims. Statistics of claims (quarterly) and awards and claims (annual) are produced using a national sample.
Special Diet Supplement; Special Laundry Supplement—No local statistics are produced. Centrally available information on these and other additional requirements is derived from the Supplementary Benefits Annual Statistical Enquiry. This is a sample survey of claimants receiving regular weekly payments of benefit at a particular point in time.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why it is not possible to produce figures for those people in receipt of state earnings-related pensions at his Department's offices in Canning Town, Plaistow and Woodgrange Park.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information held centrally includes details of the pensioner's local office but this information is not accessed for normal statistical purposes. A special computer run, which would involve searching over 9 million records, would entail disproportionate cost.