§ Mr. Charles Irvingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many men between 60 and 65 years are claiming unemployment and other benefits; and what is the total cost per year.
§ Mr. NewtonAt November 1980, the latest date for which such figures are available, there were over 163,000 men aged 60 to 64 who were claiming benefit as unemployed, 77,000 of them were receiving unemployment benefit, and about 4,000 of these were receiving supplementary allowance in addition; some 38,000 were receiving supplementary allowance without unemployment benefit. The remaining 48,000—including 7,000 whose entitlement to unemployment benefit had not yet been determined—were receiving neither benefit. No figures are available of how many of these men were receiving other benefits which may be payable at the same time as unemployment benefit, such as disablement pension, mobility allowance or family income supplement. It is not therefore possible to estimate a total cost.