§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total expenditure on supplementary benefit to pay for bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless families in England in 1985–86; what he anticipates the expenditure to be in 1986–87; and if he will give this information for (a) England as a whole, (b) each area of his Department and (c) each local authority area.
§ Mr. MajorI regret that this information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Pikeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to which local authorities in England at present disregard war pensions and war widow's pensions when calculating housing benefit.
§ Mr. LyellAll local authorities administering housing benefit are required by law to apply a £4 disregard to war disablement and war widow's pensions. (Regulation 16 of the Housing Benefit Regulations, 1985).
Information on the number of authorities applying a discretionary disregard higher than the statutory amount is not held centrally.