§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give his Department's latest official figures for the numbers of people living in poverty in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. JackThe Department continues to follow the line of all post-war Administrations in not keeping statistics based on a single definition of poverty. Information on the income and characteristics of people in the lower half of the income distribution are provided in the publication "HBAI a Statistical Analysis 1981–87", produced on a bi-annual basis, a copy of which is available in the Library.