§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of people claiming family income supplement in each planning region of Great Britain; and what percentage the figures represent of total insured workers in each region.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI regret that information is not available in the form requested. It may, however, help the hon. Member to know the numbers of families receiving family income supplement in Scotland, Wales and each of the social security regions of England. At the end of March 1980, the latest date for which figures are available, thev totalled about 85,700, as follows:
SCOTLAND 10,860 WALES 5,150 ENGLAND-SOCIAL SECURITY REGIONS Northern 4,950 Yorkshire and Humberside 8,720 East Midlands and East Anglia 8,630 London North 4,720 London South 6,710 London West 6,000 South-Western 8,190 West Midlands 7,230 North-Western—Manchester 6,190 Merseyside 8,370 The numbers of working contributors are available only for Great Britain as a whole. There were about 24¼ million working contributors in the 1977–78 tax year, the latest year for which figures are available. In April 1978, the total number of families receiving family income supplement in Great Britain was 751W 96,000, which was approximately 0–4 per cent. of the total of working contributors.