HC Deb 18 February 1971 vol 811 cc547-8W
95. Mr. Meacher

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in how many cases the full rent payable is not taken into account in calculating entitlement to supplementary benefit; how many of those affected are, respectively, single men, single women with children, unemployed, Commonwealth immigrants, council tenants, other unfurnished tenants, and furnished tenants; and what is the average unmet rent in each category.

Mr. Dean

In November, 1969, the latest date for which information is available, the net rent payable by 23,000 claimants of supplementary benefit was not met in full; the average amount unmet was £1.09. It is not possible to analyse these figures for all the categories listed by the hon. Member; the information available is as follows:

Number of claimants Average amount of unmet rent £
Women under pension age with children * 3,000 1.17
Unemployed 4,000 1.33
Local Authority tenants 4,000 Not Known
Furnished accommodation 6,000 Not Known
Unfurnished accommodation 17,000 Not Known
* Includes separated wives, widows and divorcees.
† Includes all types of accommodation, i.e. local authority, private landlord, etc.

Note: These figures are based on a sample using 1 in 160 supplementary pension cases and 1 in 40 supplementary allowance cases.