HC Deb 23 March 1989 vol 149 cc789-90W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of people in receipt of statutory sick pay since 1983.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I regret that the information is not available in the form requested. However, the number of recorded payments of SSP in each year since its introduction is as follows:

Tax year Number of SSP payments (million)
1983–84 5
1984–85 5.7
1985–86 5.9
Tax year Number of SSP payments (million)
1986–87 5.7
1987–88 5.8

Note: These figures relate to employments not people. Where a person has had spells of SSP with more than one employer in a tax year, the spells with each employer will be recorded in the table. Thus the number of people receiving SSP will be less than the figures shown above.