§ Mr. Newtonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the latest available figures for (a) the annual amount spent by the Supplementary Benefits Commission on heating supplements and (b) the annual amount spent by the Commission and by local authorities' social service departments in helping to pay off fuel bill arrears.
§ Mr. DeakinsApplying the current rates of heating additions to the latest information available on the number of payments given in my reply to the hon. Member for Woolwich, West (Mr. Bottomley) on 21st January 1977—[Vol. 924, c. 356]—suggests an annual expenditure of about £55 million. The latest information available on lump-sum payments by the Supplementary Benefits Commission for clearance of fuel debts is for the period February to May 1976, when £336,276 was paid. Information is not available on the total expenditure by local authorities but the expenditure by some authorities in 1974–75 can be obtained from the DHSS "Personal Social Services Local Authority Statistics, Children in Care of Local Authorities", a copy of which is in the Library.