§ Mr. Pikeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of supplementary benefit appeals registered through the Burnley offices during each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many appeals were upheld in each month over the same period.
§ Mr. NewtonThe number of appeals registered in the last 12 months in the local offices whose claimants are dealt with at tribunals by the Burnley local offices were as follows:504W
Four-week period ending 1983 Burnley Accrington Rossendale 18.1 25 7 6 15.2 33 8 4 15.3 37 18 11 12.4 51 12 2 10.5 44 15 5 7.6 29 21 11 5.7 37 13 11 2.8 46 25 10 30.8 43 12 10 27.9 49 21 10 25.10 55 15 14 22.11 58 23 18 20.12 37 17 18 It is not the Department's practice to give figures for appeals upheld which can be related to individual tribunals.
§ Mr. Pikeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of supplementary benefit claimants at the Burnley offices for the last month for which figures are available; and what were the figures for the comparable month in the previous year.
§ Dr. BoysonThere were 15,900 cases in action in Burnley local office during December 1983, the latest available period, and 15,100 in the comparable period of 1982.
Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action.
§ Mr. Galleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are in receipt of lump sum payments for special needs under the supplementary benefit regulations; what is the total annual expenditure on these payments; if there is a maximum expenditure per claimant; and, in the case of consumer durables, how often (a) new and (b) second-hand goods are provided.
§ Dr. BoysonA total of 1.89 million single payments, totalling £143.4 million, were made in 1983 to supplementary benefit claimants, in accordance with the Supplementary Benefit (Single Payments) Regulations. There is no maximum limit on the number or total of payments made to individual claimants in those regulations. The amounts of such payments for furniture normally represent the cost of second-hand items (reconditioned items in the case of gas and electrical appliances) except in the case of beds, for which the cost of a new item is allowed.
§ Mr. Frank Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how he proposes to advertise the availability of assistance under regulation 26, so that supplementary benefit claimants can know that in a period of exceptionally severe weather they can spend more money on heating, in the knowledge that they can claim the extra cash for that particular week.
§ Dr. BoysonThe supplementary benefit officer cannot make a decision under Supplementary Benefit (Single Payment) Regulation 26 in any particular case until he is in a position to decide whether or not there has been a period of exceptionally severe weather and that as a result the claimant has used more fuel for heating and that the cost is more than the amount he has set aside to pay his fuel bills. Claimants could well be misled if the Department sought to anticipate the supplementary benefit officer's decision.
505WIf, in the opinion of the Chief Supplementary Benefit Officer, there has been a week of exceptionally severe weather, posters inviting claims will be displayed in all the Department's local supplementary benefit offices in the area affected and in other public places such as local authority social services departments, housing benefit offices and public libraries, and explanatory leaflets incorporating claim forms will be available from all supplementary benefit offices.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people who are itinerant, including gipsies, people in board and lodgings, hostel and hostel accommodation and people of no fixed abode, are claiming supplementary benefit (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in the Greater London area and (c) in the Westminster city council area.
§ Dr. BoysonSeparate figures are not available for itinerants but the total number of boarders, excepting those in residential care homes and nursing homes, claiming supplementary benefit at December 1982 was as follows:
United Kingdom GLC area Boarders (including those in hotel accommodation) 55,000 6,000 Claimants in hostels or common lodging houses 32,000 10,000 Separate figures are not available for the Westminster city council area.