§ Mr. Michael Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Chertsey and Walton (Mr. Pattie) Official Report, 18 January 1979, c. 902, concerning supplementary benefit claimants, he will give the information 907W requested for November 1978 or, if not yet available, information for the latest date available since November 1977.
§ Mr. OrmeData on which the information is based are gathered only once a year and complete statistics for 1978 are not yet available. However, in November 1978 there were about 2,929,000 persons in receipt of supplementary benefit.
§ Mr. Peter Morrisonasked 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 1978.
§ Mr. DeakinsInformation is not collected on the basis of economic planning regions. However, in November 1978 about 430,000 persons were receiving supplementary benefit in the two social security regions which together cover a somewhat larger territory than the region to which the question refers. Information relating to dependants is not available on a regional basis.