§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report a table of figures giving, for the latest and most convenient date, the number of persons in the London borough of Newham drawing unemployment, sickness, invalidity and other pensions, supplementary benefits and all other welfare payment and the amounts received in total or on average; and how these figures compare with a similar date for each of the past 10 years or for the longest period of time for which figures are available.
§ Mr. OrmeI regret that much of the information is not available in the form requested or could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Following is the information available:
Unemployment benefit
Three unemployment benefit offices—Strat. ford, East Ham and Canning Town—are situated within the borough of Newham. The numbers of persons in receipt of unemployment benefit from these offices in February of each of the last three years were as follows:
1975 … … 1,700 1976 … … 3,300 1977 … … 3,200* Figures for earlier years, or for the amounts of benefit paid, are not available.
Supplemenelary benefit
The Department's local offices in London cover areas based on postal districts, but the 190W offices at Plaistow, Canning Town and Wood Grange Park between them cover most of the borough of Newham. The numbers of persons living within the areas covered by these offices and in receipt of either a supplementary allowance or a supplementary pension in February of 1969, 1972 and 1977—and the average weekly amounts of supplementary benefit in payment within the Greater London Council area on these dates—are given below:
1969 1972 1977 Persons in receipt of supplementary benefit 15,200 16,800 18,000 Average weekly payment in the GLC area £3.75 £4.84 £13.27 Other Social Security benefits
No relevant information is available.
* Includes an estimated figure for the Stratford office.