§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are currently receiving invalidity benefit in each standard planning region in Northern Ireland; and what is the expected expenditure in 1992–93 in each such region.
§ Mr. HanleyResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
144WLetter from A. Wylie to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 2 November 1992:
Your recent Parliamentary Question asking for the numbers of people currently receiving Invalidity Benefit in each standard planning region in Northern Ireland and the expected expenditure in 1992–93 in each such region has been passed to me for reply as I am responsible for the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency.
The information is not available in the form you requested because Northern Ireland is regarded as one region for Invalidity Benefit purposes. However, you may be interested to know that at September 1992 there were 60,048 people in Northern Ireland receiving Invalidity Benefit and that the total expenditure on this benefit for 1992/93 is estimated at £238.4m.
I hope this information is helpful.