§ Mrs. MahonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many young people have been refused benefit after applying to him or his officers under the severe hardship rule.
§ Mr. Peter LloydDuring the period 12 September 1988, when general entitlement to income support was withdrawn from 16 and 17-year-olds, to 3 March 1989, a total of 5,127 decisions have been made under the Secretary of State's discretionary power to avoid "severe hardship". A direction to enable income support to be paid was refused in 1,799 instances. These figures relate to the number of decisions made, not to the number of young people involved. Some young people have made more than one application.