§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the latest available figures for (a) the total number of sickness benefit recipients, (b) of these the number receiving supplementary benefit, (c) a breakdown of recipients by their previous employment status, (d) the number of recipients claiming for an adult dependant and (e) the number of recipients claiming for a child dependant.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe following is the information:(a) The total number of sickness benefit beneficiaries as at 2 April 1983, the latest date for which information is available, was 338,000.
(b) The total number of sickness benefit beneficiaries also in receipt of supplementary benefit as at 8 December 1982, the latest date for which information is available, was 25,000.
(c) A breakdown of sickness benefit beneficiaries by their former employment status as at 2 April 1983 was—
Number Employed persons 290,000 Self-employed persons 17,000 Others 31,000 (d) The number of sickness benefit beneficiaries claiming an increase for an adult dependant as at 2 April 1983 was 83,000.
(e) The number of sickness benefit beneficiaries claiming an increase for a child dependant as at 2 April 1983 was 71,000 but this total includes 38,000 beneficiaries who also claimed for an adult dependant and are included in the figure shown at (d) above.