HC Deb 24 May 1978 vol 950 cc607-8W
Mr. Peter Morrison

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the North-West Economic Planning Region had their needs wholly or partly met by the provision of supplementary benefit in each of the years since 1970.

Mr. Deakins

Information is not collected on the basis of economic planning regions. The table below shows the total number of persons receiving supplementary benefit on a day in November/December each year in the two social security regions which together cover a somewhat larger territory than that of the North-West Economic Planning Region. Information relating to dependants is not available on a regional basis.

DHSS NW (MANCHESTER) AND NW (MERSEYSIDE) REGIONS
Year No. of supplementary beneficiaries (thousands)
1970 383
1971 414
1972 424
1973 389
1974 394
1975 422
1976* (445)
1977 444
*Information relating to December 1976 not available due to industrial action. Information in brackets relates to February 1977.