§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if there has been any increase in the numbers of children born with congenital abnormalities; and if he will make a statement on the incidence of congenital handicaps.
614Weligible for family income supplement (FIS) can be made only on a national basis.
Figures for those receiving FIS are not kept for areas smaller than social security regions. The number of families living in the West Midlands Region, which includes the Walsall metropolitan district, and receiving FIS was 7,390 at the end of December 1977, the latest date for which information is available. The total number of families in Great Britain receiving FIS at that time was over 89,000.