§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will show for each of the last 10 years the total 190W cost of free welfare foods, medical prescriptions and optical treatment, distinguishing between the cost of the benefits and administrative costs and showing numbers employed to work the scheme; the number of claims made; the number of payments made; the estimated percentage take-up in relation to eligibility; and the length of time for which payments continued before reassessment.
§ Mr. MeacherInformation is not available in the form required. The following tables give the available data for England:
FREE WELFARE FOODS Year ended 31st March Cost Estimated equivalent number of beneficiaries £ million 000's 1972 8.3 (estimated) 395 1973 9.7 469 1974 8.5 390 1975 6.8 (provisional) 343 Notes:
1. Prior to 1971–72 a pint of milk a day could be obtained by beneficiaries at a subsidised price or free in certain circumstances, but separate figures for free issues are not readily available.
2. The figure for 1971–72 has had to be estimated because there was a degree of overlap with the previous scheme.