HC Deb 30 July 1981 vol 9 cc484-5W
Mr. Ernie Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the average weekly family income supplement payment to one-parent and two-parent families in Scotland in each of the past three years.

Mrs. Chalker

I regret that figures are not readily available in the form requested. However, the hon. Member may find it helpful to have the following details of the average weekly payments of family income supplement (FIS) on awards which were current in Scotland at the end of March in each of the past three years.

Average Weekly Payments of FIS—Awards Current at the end of

March

Scotland

Awards current at One-parent families £ Two-parent families £
31 March 1981 11.76 9.31
25 March 1980 8.92 7.50
27 March 1979 5.50 4.87

Mr. Dobson

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the latest available figures for the numbers of (a) one-parent families and (b) two-parent families in receipt of family income supplement; what was the average payment; and how many received the maximum payment.

Mrs. Chalker

The information is given in the following table:

Families Receiving Family Income Supplement at 31 March 1981 Great Britain
One-parent families Two-parent families All families
Number of families receiving FIS 53,790 50,200 103,990
Average weekly payment £11.09 £9.40 £10.27

One-parent families Two-parent families All families
Number of families receiving maximum payment 7,750 5,290 13,040