§ Ms Janet AndersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each month since January 1990 the number of people in receipt of invalidity and sickness benefit(a) in England and (b) in Scotland.
§ Mr. ScottThe available information is in the table.
area of the York Benefits Agency office were in receipt of invalidity benefit on the most recent date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of invalidity benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 30 June 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many people living within the catchment area of the York Benefits Agency Office were in receipt of Invalidity Benefit on the most recent date for which figures are available.
The information is not available in the format requested. This is because statistics are not maintained by District/ Benefit Offices for recipients of Invalidity Benefit.
However, it is possible to state the number of claimants to Invalidity Benefit at York District Office. These include a small number of people who have claimed but are not receiving Invalidity Benefit, eg. because there is underlying entitlement which has been extinguished by the payment of a higher overlapping benefit or where termination action has not been completed.
There were in fact 5,094 people claiming Invalidity Benefit at York District Office at the last working day of May 1993. These figures were obtained from a 100 per cent. clerical count of cases in the Office.
625WI hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.