HC Deb 12 March 1957 vol 566 cc169-70W
Mr. Isaacs

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the number of persons in receipt of retirement pensions and the numbers of such pensioners in receipt of a National Assistance supplementary payment and the numbers of persons who are not in receipt of retirement pensions who are in receipt of National Assistance supplementary payments, in the area covered by his office in Southwark, at the most convenient recent date and for the corresponding period of 1956.

Miss Pitt

My right hon. Friend regrets that statistics of retirement pensioners are not available for local areas. As regards National Assistance, as the right hon. Gentleman will be aware, the Borough of Southwark is served by two National Assistance Board offices which, between them, cover both Southwark and the borough of Bermondsey. The Board state that in the area administered from the office at 301 Borough High Street, which covers the greater part of Southwark, there were being paid on 18th December, 1956, 2,003 weekly grants in supplementation of retirement pension and 1,185 other weekly grants including those paid to persons with no other income to be supplemented. The comparable figures on 20th December, 1955, were 2,034 and 1,167. Some of the grants provided for a household with more than one pensioner.

Mr. Short

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what were the numbers of persons in receipt of retirement pensions and National Assistance, respectively, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 1st March, 1956, and 1st March, 1957.

Miss Pitt

My right hon. Friend regrets that statistics of retirement pensioners are not available for local areas. The National Assistance Board informs him that information about National Assistance grants is not available for precisely the area and dates stated, but that 18,858 weekly grants were current on 20th December, 1955, and 18,673 on 18th December, 1956, in an area served by four of its offices, which consists mainly of the county borough of Newcastle-upon-Tyne but also includes the borough of Wallsend and some county district territories. Of these grants, 10,700 and 10,802, respectively, were in supplementation of retirement pensions. Some of these grants provided for a household with more than one pensioner.