§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims were made for assistance from the social fund in the last year for which figures are available; how many were accepted and how many were refused.
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§ Mr. ScottInformation for 1993–94 is in the table.
Number Applications 4,039,357 Awards 2,146,714 Refusals 1,705,834 The number of awards and refusals is less than the number of applications because of applications which were withdrawn by applicants; applications which had not been decided at the time of the count; and applications where the applicant did not subsequently respond.
The figures do not include social fund cold weather payments as these are made automatically to those people who qualify.