§ Mr. Budgenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will list the social security benefits for which her Department is responsible, together with the estimated percentage of take-up of those entitled to it in each case.
§ Mr. Alec JonesThe social security benefits for which my Department is responsible are:
Contributory Benefits
- Maternity benefits
- Sickness benefits
- Invalidity benefits
- Unemployment benefits
- Widows benefits
334 - Guardians allowance
- Childs special allowance
- Retirement pensions
- Death grant
- Industrial Injuries benefit
Non-Contributory Benefits
- Family allowances
- Attendance allowances
- Pensions for people over 80
- War pensions and allowances
- Family Income Supplement
- Supplementary Benefit
A description of each benefit may be found in "Family Benefits and Pensions" and details of the number of beneficiaries of each benefit are given in the "Digest of Social Security Statistics". Both these publications are available from HMSO.
While precise percentages cannot be given, the available evidence suggests that there is little shortfall in the take-up of contributory benefits and most non-contributory benefits. The position in regard to some non-contributory benefits is, however, difficult to estimate. The rate of take-up of family income supplement is about half.