HC Deb 07 February 1977 vol 925 cc568-9W
Mr. George Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether a person on supplementary benefit with six children would qualify for an increase of £8 per week as a consequence of the November increases in social security payments; and what would be the age range of the children concerned.

Mr. Orme

This is theoretically possible but would be extremely unlikely. If none of the children had reached the age of 16 at least four of them would need to be over 13 and the rest over 11. A rather wider age range could be involved if one or more dependent children were over 16.

Mr. George Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many dependent children an unemployed man would have to have in order to qualify for an increase of £8 per week following the November uplift in unemployment allowances.

Mr. Orme

An unemployed man receiving flat-rate unemployment benefit, including increases for a wife and children, would have to have at least 10 children in his family to have qualified for an increase in his benefit of £8 a week or more following the November 1976 uprating of social security benefits.

Mr. George Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of the number of people who are unemployed receive no State benefit at all according to the most recently available figures.

Mr. Orme

Information is not available in the form requested, but, of the total

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN RECEIPT OF SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFIT (1,000s)
Year Duration of unemployment
(May) Up to 3 months 3–6 months 6–12 months Over 12 months
1974 84 40 33 92
1975 141 61 55 90
1976 179 96 122 156

These figures exclude some people whose benefit is not paid by the unemployment benefit office of the Department of Employment.