§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the 148W sickness compensation statistics are for the last two weeks in July of 1979 and 1978 in the West Midlands area; and how these compare with the average figure for the rest of the year.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI assume my hon. Friend is referring to claims for sickness and invalidity benefits and non-contributory invalidity pension. In the statistical weeks ending 24 July and 31 July 1979, claims for those benefits in the West Midlands region totalled 13,700 and 11,400 respectively and, for the corresponding weeks in 1978, 15,900 and 12,600. The average for the 50 weeks in between was 18,800.