§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number of claimants who made application, were awarded and accepted(a) social fund loans, (b) community care grants at each of the social security offices in South Down for the financial year 1988–89.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe information for the period 11 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 is given in the table.
267WThe balance of applications in each category were refused, withdrawn by the applicant or were still to be decided at the end of March 1989.
§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pensioners at each of the social security offices in South Down no longer qualify for housing benefit as a result of the recent pension increase.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the total social fund expenditure has been written off as unrecoverable for the financial year 1988–89.
§ Mr. NeedhamTotal social fund expenditure in the period 11 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 was £18,485,998. It was not practicable to pursue recovery of funeral payments of £934,665 and loans of £1,952. These figures are provisional.