§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his latest estimate of the number of supplementary benefit claimants working part time under the 30 hours rule.
§ Mr. NewtonThe number of claimants working part-time at December 1983*, the latest date for which information is available, was 126,000.
*Source: 1983 annual statistical inquiry.
§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his latest estimate of the number of registered unemployed people with no entitlement to unemployment benefit or supplementary benefit.
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§ Mr. NewtonAt November 1984, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 412,000 unemployed claimants in receipt of neither unemployment nor supplementary benefit (including 124,000 claimants whose entitlement had not yet been determined).
§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are his latest estimates of the average, maximum and minimum times it takes to process a claim for housing benefit, distinguishing between certificated and standard housing benefit.
§ Mr. MajorI regret that estimates are not available. The responsibility for the administration of the housing benefit scheme rests with individual local authorities. Information about the speed with which claims are processed is not collected centrally.
§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the unemployed by entitlement to benefit in April 1980, April 1984, and April 1985, distinguishing between those with (a) unemployment benefit only, (b) unemployment benefit plus supplementary benefit and (c) supplementary benefit only.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information available is given in the table. Figures relate to November of each year and are not yet available for 1985.
November 1980 November 1984 Unemployment benefit only 778,600 699,500 Unemployment and supplementary benefit 161,300 196,400 Supplementary benefit only 663,900 1,688,700
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the cost of social security payments in the United Kingdom per head of the working population for each of the years 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, and 1984–85; and what is the proportion spent on administrative costs in each case.
§ Mr. NewtonThe cost of social security payments in the United Kingdom per head of the working population (as defined for Table 1.1 of the monthlyEmployment Gazette) was:—
£ 1979–80 750 1980–81 900 1981–82 1,100 1982–83 1,250 1983–84 1,350 1984–85 1,450 Administrative costs amounted to roughly 4½ per cent. of the total in each year.