§ Mr. McBrideasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many old-age pensioners living in Wales applied for assistance to the National Assistance Board in each calendar year since 1951; and what percentages these yearly totals represent of the retirement pensioners in Wales.
§ Mrs. ThatcherThe following table shows, for December of each year since 1951, the numbers of retirement pensioners in Wales who were receiving supplementary grants from the National Assistance Board, and the estimated percentage of retirement pensioner households with such grants.
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— Retirement pensioners with supplementary grants Percentage of retirement pensioner households with such grants 1951 … 57,000 32 1952 … 62,000 34 1953 … 66,000 35 1954 … 69,000 35 1955 … 62,000 31 1956 … 64,000 32 1957 … 66,000 34* 1958 … 60,000 28 1959 … 65,000 30 1960 … 71,000 32 1961 … 68,000 30 1962 … 72,000 31 1963 … 70,000 Not available * The basis on which the total number of retirement pensioner households in Wales is calculated was changed in 1957, as a result of the centralisation of the payment of retirement pensions in Newcastle. The figures from 1957 onwards are therefore not strictly comparable with those for earlier years.