§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish, on the basis of his latest available information, the number of people who are in receipt of domestic assistance addition; if he will analyse the distribution of the weekly value of this payment by £10 bands; and if he will publish an analysis of the general categories of disablement in respect of these persons.
§ Mr. NewtonFrom information from the December 1983 annual statistical inquiry for supplementary benefit it is estimated that there were some 2,400 claimants receiving an additional requirement for domestic assistance with an average payment of £3.59. Provisional estimates from the December 1984 inquiry indicate about 3,150 cases with an average payment of £3.90. Because of the few claimants shown in the inquiries as receiving the addition, estimates are subject to the normal uncertainties implicit in a small sample size. A more detailed breakdown by range of payment is as follows:
Range of payment £ Estimated number of cases 10.00 3,000 10.00–19.99 100 20.00–29.99 — 30.00–39.99 — 40.00–49.99 50 50+ — Total 3,150 Source: 1984 ASE provisional figures.
The information about ranges of payment should be regarded as giving only a broad indication of the numbers involved. In particular, the estimated numbers receiving additions over £10 is based on only three sample cases.
None the less, the estimates suggest that receipt of the additional requirement continues to be on a modest scale and, generally, for relatively small amounts. Information is not available about the type of disability.