HC Deb 12 December 1988 vol 143 cc453-4W
Mr. Blair

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were claiming supplementary benefit on 1 April; and how many were claiming income support on 1 May(a) for United Kingdom as a whole and (b) for each of his Department's local offices in the counties of: (i) Cleveland, (ii) Cumbria, (iii) Durham, (iv) Northumberland and (v) Tyne and Wear.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Information is available in respect of 17 November 1987 for supplementary benefit and 31 May 1988 for income support as follows:

Supplementary benefit live load at 17 November 1987 Income support live load at 31 May 1988
National (Great Britain) 5,045,062 4,508,724
Cleveland
Eston 8,445 7,572
Hartlepool 12,365 11,083
Middlesbrough 23,141 20,854
Redcar 9,492 8,528
Stockton 20,321 17,597
Cumbria
Carlisle 8,430 7,913
Kendal 2,732 2,418
Workington 5,755 5,337
Whitehaven 4,617 4,218
Penrith 2,043 1,747
Barrow 8,116 7,504
Supplementary benefit live load at 17 November 1987 Income support live load at 31 May 1988
Durham
Bishop Auckland 14,762 12,396
Chester-Le-Street 6,794 6,059
Darlington 13,905 13,110
Durham 6,174 5,452
Peterlee 7,396 6,145
Seaham 3,154 2,680
Stanley 10,502 9,482
Northumberland
Ashington 7,097 6,503
Berwick 1,887 1,738
Blyth 8,872 7,816
Hexham 2,865 2,613
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead 23,898 21,267
Houghton-Le-Spring 4,541 4,092
Jarrow 8,693 7,582
Newcastle St. James 17,303 15,156
Newcastle East 17,170 15,278
Newcastle West 11,836 10,336
North Shields 11,462 9,812
South Shields 14,040 12,130
Sunderland North 20,612 18,670
Sunderland South 16,131 15,014
Wallsend 9,202 8,035
(The source is a 100 per cent. count of cases in action. These figures may, however, overstate the number of people receiving supplementary benefit. Claims records were updated during the conversion to income support. The exercise showed that some claims were still recorded as live even though the person was no longer receiving supplementary benefit. This means that some counts of the number of supplementary benefit claims do not reflect the fall in the number of people receiving supplementary benefit.)

Mr. Blair

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants will not receive any overall increase in their benefit income in April 1989(a) for the United Kingdom as a whole and (b) for each of his Department's local offices in the counties of (i) Cleveland, (ii) Cumbria, (iii) Durham, (iv) Northumberland and (v) Tyne and Wear, both numerically and as a percentage of benefit claimants.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Estimates are readily available only for those receiving income support. The latest figures for Great Britain as a whole indicate that about ½ million or 11 per cent. of claimants will not receive any overall increase in their income support in April. The information is not available on an office by office basis.