§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of male persons over the age of 60 years who are drawing the long term scale rate of supplementary benefit and yet who are not registering for employment in Cumbria and in the United Kingdom as a whole.
§ Mr. NewtonI assume that the hon. Member is referring to unemployed men aged 60 and over who choose no longer to register for work and so qualify for the long term rate of supplementary benefit. It is estimated that by February 1982 about 200* men in Cumbria had opted for the longer term rate and about 27,000* in Great Britain. I regret that information is not available for the United Kingdom as a whole.
* Cases in action, based on the 100 per cent. count of cases in local office.
§ Mr. Needhamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost, at 1982–83 benefit rates, of extending the long-term supplementary benefit rate to the unemployed.
§ Mr. NewtonIt would cost £300 million at average 1982–83 benefit rates to extend the long-term rates of supplementary benefit to unemployed people after a year in receipt of the ordinary rate.
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§ Mr. Tilleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people have been refused supplementary benefit because under the regulations made under the Social Security Act 1980 their immigration status made them ineligible.
§ Mr. NewtonThe records kept of supplementary benefit claims disallowed do not include details of the reasons for disallowance and the information requested is therefore not available.
§ Mr. McTaggartasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons in Glasgow are currently claiming supplementary benefit; how this compares with the previous year; and how many in each case are pensioners.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation is not available in the form requested. However, estimates of the number of people receiving benefit from the local offices in Glasgow, with the exception of the Cumbernauld Office, are given in the following table. These offices may also deal with people who live outside Glasgow.
February 1981 February 1982 All supplementary beneficiaries 85,000 97,000 All supplementary pensioners 34,000 34,000 Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action in local offices.