HC Deb 08 April 1963 vol 675 cc108-9W
98. Mr. Oram

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many people in receipt of National Assistance during 1957 received supplementary payments in respect of rents; what was the total sum paid out by the National Assistance Board in respect of rents in that year; and what were the equivalent figures for 1962.

Mr. N. Macpherson

At the end of 1957 the number of recipients of weekly National Assistance allowances who ware householders for whom an allowance for rent and rates would be added to the appropriate scale rates was 1,323,000. As my predecessor informed the hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Frank Allaun) on 2nd April, 1962, it is not possible to state a sum representing the part of expenditure on National Assistance which is attributable to rent and rates, but the average amount paid by the householders concerned was 16s. a week. The comparable figures at the end of 1962 were 1,587,000 and 23s. 7d.