§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will state (a) the total number of persons dependent to any extent on rate or hous- 234W ing subsidies or welfare payment, excluding family allowance and child benefit, respectively, and (b) the total number of persons who are not, for 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977; and if he will express the first figure as a percentage of the population who are not receiving such benefits.
§ Mr. ArmstrongI have been asked to reply.
The available figures for welfare payments were given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security in his reply on 5th December 1977.—[Vol. 940. c. 533–4.]
Public sector tenants, owner-occupiers with mortgages, and users of local authority services can be regarded as to some extent dependent on assistance to their housing and other costs through general housing subsidies, tax relief on mortgage interest, option mortgage subsidy and rate support grant.
Information on income-related housing benefits is not available in the form requested, but recipients of rent rebate or allowance—other than supplementary benefit recipients—are normally also eligible for rate rebate. The relevant available information on recipients of rate rebates is as follows:
Year Number of households (excluding SB households) Number of households receiving rate rebates Number of households not receiving rate rebates (b)—(c) (c) as a percentage of (d) (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) 000's 000's 000's 1970 15,951 895 15,056 5.9 1971 15,988 912 15,076 6.0 1972 16,178 1,016 15,162 6.7 1973 16,550 1,110 15,440 7.2 1974 16,725 2,626 14,099 18.6 1975 16,892 2,930 13,962 21.0 1976 16,984 3,020 13,964 21.6 1977 Not available The figures given in column (c) relate to the financial year beginning in April of the year shown. The 1973, 1975 and 1976 figures include estimates for Scotland.