§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services by how much the volume and cost of prescribed drugs rose during the 1982 health workers' dispute; and what were the figures for each month from the month prior to the start of the dispute to December 1982.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergIn England in 1982, 311 million prescriptions were dispensed with a total net
426Wqualifying was £3.54, and total expenditure was approximately £200 million. Some families qualify for different types of child support benefit simultaneously.
Further detailed information is contained in "Social Security Statistics—1982", copies of which have been placed in the Library.
Forecasts for 1983–84, on the basis of information given in the public expenditure White Paper—Cmnd. 8789—are that expenditure on child dependency additions will be about £190 million and will cover 940,000 children.
No other estimates are currently available.