§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the number of people receiving invalidity benefit or previous comparable benefits for each of the present parliamentary constituencies in Wales and for Wales as a whole.
§ Mr. ScottThis 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.
Letter from Mr. M. Bichard to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 21 February 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of people receiving Invalidity Benefit or previous comparable benefits for the parliamentary constituencies in Wales and for Wales as a whole.
The information is not available in the exact format requested. This is because the Agency's District boundaries do not correspond with parliamentary constituencies.
However, the information for Wales as a whole is available. The number of customers in receipt of Invalidity Benefit in Wales at 4 April 1992, the latest date for which figures are available, was approximately 159,000. The statistics are based on a 1 per cent. sample of claimants.
Within the Wales Area Directorate there are 11 Districts. Appendix 1 shows the number of people claiming Invalidity Benefit at the last working day of April 1992 within each District in Wales. The figures were obtained from a 100 per cent. clerical count of cases in each office within each District and 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.
I have attached at appendix 2 a list of Districts within the Wales Area Directorate and the parliamentary constituencies which fall within each Districts area.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
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Appendix 1 Number of people claiming invalidity benefit at the last working day of April 1992 Benefits agency district Number Gwyneddigion 8,720 North Wales Coast 11,375 Mid Wales and Maelor 8,575 West Wales 17,543 Swansea 15,362 Ogwr Afan Nedd 19,505 South Glamorgan 13,915 South Gwent and Islwyn 12,432 Cynon, Merthyr and Rhymney Valley 21,063 Taff Rhondda 16,229 North Gwent and Brecon 14,844 Total 159,563
Appendix 2 Benefits agency district Parliamentary constituencies Gwyneddigion Ceredigion and Pembroke North Caernarfon Conwy Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Ynys Mon North Wales Coast Alyn and Deeside Clwyd North West Clwyd South West Delyn Conwy Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Mid Wales and Maelor Alyn and Deeside Clwyd South West Delyn Wrexham Brecon and Radnor Montgomery Meirionnydd Nant Conwy West Wales Carmarthen Ceredigion and Pembroke North Llanelli Pembroke Gower Neath Swansea Gower Neath Swansea East Swansea West Brecon and Radnor Ogwr Afan Nedd Bridgend Ogmore Aberavon Neath South Glamorgan Cardiff Central Cardiff North Cardiff South and Penarth Cardiff West Vale of Glamorgan South Gwent and Islwyn Islwyn Monmouth Newport East Newport West Cynon, Merthyr and Caerphilly Rhymney Valley Cynon Valley Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Taff Rhondda Cynon Valley Ogmore Pontypridd Rhondda North Gwent and Brecon Blanau Gwent Monmouth Torfaen Brecon and Radnor