§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give his Department's latest estimate of the number of local authorities operating local schemes under the housing benefit scheme, and the total cost to the authorities concerned of such enhancements.
§ Mr. Portillo[holding answer 3 December 1987]: A total of 259 authorities are estimated to have operated 64W discretionary local schemes in 1986–87, the latest year for which information is available. Total expenditure on discretionary enhancements to benefit was about £32.4 million. This figure includes expenditure on local schemes and also a small additional amount of expenditure on discretionary increases in cases of individual hardship, for which a separate total is not held.