§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the latest figures available for the numbers receiving assistance from supplementary benefit departments of the Department of Health and Social Security towards the cost of funerals; what is the average amount of such assistance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe only information available is derived from a sample of supplementary benefit recipients who, in a week in November 1979, were recorded as having received an exceptional needs payment in the preceding 12 months. During that period, it is estimated that between 4,000 and 7,000 payments were made to help with funeral expenses and that the average ENP was between £75 and £105. The sample data account only for about two-thirds of the total ENPs made during a year, and there is no information available on what proportion of the ENPs not recorded in the sample were for help with funeral expenses.