§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many inquiries have been received by the Freeline social security service in each of the past 12 months; and what information is available about the subject matter of those inquiries.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe information for the 12 months to August 1988, the latest figures available is as follows:
Four weeks ending Freeline inquiries 22 September 1987 55,940 20 October 1987 59,742 17 November 1987 58,216 15 December 1987 58,012 12 January 1988 42,318 9 February 1988 75,095 8 March 1988 64,809 5 April 1988 53,375 3 May 1988 54,665 31 May 1988 55,755 30 June 19881 65,661 31 July 1988 65,806 31 August 1988 77,403 1 Statistics have been kept on a calendar month basis since June 1988. A study of freeline caller-traffic conducted in February 1988 reported that approximately 50 per cent. of calls were about supplementary benefit (now replaced by income support, and the social fund); approximately 25 per cent. were about contributory benefit matters such as retirement pensions and contributions; and the remainder concerned a wide range of other non means-tested benefit such as attendance allowance and mobility allowance.