§ Mr. Andrew Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the number of pensioner households in England and Wales receiving help between May 1983 and April 1984 (a) as certificated housing benefit cases, (b) as housing benefit supplement cases and (c) as standard housing benefit cases;
(2) what is the number of pensioner households in (a) England and Wales and (b) Greater London currently 81W receiving help with housing costs (i) as certificated housing benefit cases, (ii) as housing benefit supplement cases and (iii) as standard housing benefit cases.
§ Dr. Boyson[pursuant to his reply, 25 June 1984, c. 355]: Information is not available in the precise form requested. The latest information available is given below. The information for certificated housing benefit and housing benefit supplement relates to December 1983. The information for standard housing benefit, which has recently become available, relates to September 1983. Information on housing benefit supplement and standard housing benefit for the GLC area is not available.
The number of pensioner households currently receiving help is not available but we estimate that, broadly, about 70,000 pensioner households lost entitlement to housing benefit in April 1984 as a result of the changes.
Estimated number of pensioner households Thousands England and Wales GLC Certificated housing benefit 1,360 205 Standard housing benefit 2,430 * Housing benefit supplement 160 * *Not available.