1 and 2. Mr. J. Hillasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1) how many retirement pensioners in the Midlothian area were in receipt of a weekly supplement from the National Assistance Board at the latest available date; and how many of these have received a discretionary payment over the last four months;
(2) how many retirement pensioners in the area served by the National Assistance Board's offices in West Lothian are in receipt of a supplementary allowance at the latest available date; and how this compares with May, 1961.
§ Mrs. ThatcherThe National Assistance Board has only one office in West Lothian, at Bathgate, which serves the whole of that county and also part of Midlothian; the rest of Midlothian is served by offices in Edinburgh, which mainly serve that city, and by an office at Galashiels, which mainly serves an area situated neither in West Lothian nor in Midlothian. The number of National Assistance supplements to retirement pension is available only at quarterly intervals and for each area served by a local office. At the end of March, 1962, it was 1,949 in the area served by the Bathgate office and 9,316 in the areas served by the Edinburgh and Galashiels offices. I regret that the other information asked for is not available.