§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will give as much detailed information as is available on the numbers of people drawing supplementary benefits, with details of the average and total amounts drawn; and the extent to which such sums are being drawn by non-British citizens and those who have never contributed to the national insurance funds.
§ Mr. OrmeAs at February 1976 about 1,672,000 persons of pension age were receiving a supplementary pension. The average amount in payment was £5.73 a week, as the great majority were also receiving retirement pensions. At the same time about 1,194,000 persons below pension age were receiving supplementary allowances of an average amount of £15.36 a week. The total cost of supplementary benefit in the financial year 1975–76 was about £1,195 million.
More detailed information will be given in the Supplementary Benefits Commission's annual report, which it is hoped to publish in September.
Amounts paid to non-British citizens and those who have never contributed to 566W the national insurance funds are not recorded separately.
§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the number of accepted claims for supplementary benefit in 1975 where the payment of benefit was not implemented from the date of claim because of his Department's policy to make payment of benefit effective from the first administrative pay day following a person's claim; and in how many of these cases the Department considered that they were exceptional circumstances justifying the award of benefit from a date earlier than the first administrative pay day after the date of claim;
(2) what was the number of claims for supplementary benefit in 1975 where the Department felt there were not grounds for backdating payment of benefit but did agree to make a lump sum payment for urgent need before the first administrative pay day;
(3) how many claimants for supplementary benefit in 1975 did not receive any payment of benefit for the period preceding their first administrative pay day;
(4) how many claimants in 1975 lost supplementary benefit for one day, two days, three days, four days, five days and six days because their claim was made, one, two, three, four, five or six days before their first pay day;
(5) what was the total amount of supplementary benefit saved by the Department in 1975 as a result of the pay day regulations adopted by the Supplementary Benefits Commission.
§ Mr. OrmeIt has not been the practice to keep statistical records relating to this aspect of Supplementary Benefits Commission policy and I regret there is no information about the number of cases affected. Neither can any estimate be made of the extra cost if supplementary benefit were paid in every case from the actual date of the claim.