§ Dr. Godmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claimants who are required to register for employment under section 5 of the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976, as amended by the Social Security Act 1980, have been in receipt of supplementary benefit for 517W more than 52 weeks, by his Department's local office areas in Scotland; and how many dependants they are estimated or known to have.
§ Dr. BoysonUnder section 5 of the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976 the right of any person to a supplementary allowance is subject, except in prescribed cases, to the condition that he is available for employment. The further condition, that in certain prescribed cases a person is also required to register for employment, applies only to claimants aged under 18 years.
Information in the form requested is not readily obtainable, but relevant information which is available for Scotland is as follows:
Supplementary Benefit Appeals Year Appeals Lodged Appeals Superseded Appeals Heard* Claimant Represented Claimant Successful Claimant Successful as percentage of Appeals Heard 1979 94,178 27,029 50,639 11,816 10,840 21.4 1980 94.481 27,579 49,355 12,765 10,914 22.1 1981 108,570 34,561 49,864 13,529 8,862 17.8 1982 129,909 43,790 56,084 15,279 10,195 18.2 1983 142,779 45,702 60,567 16,827 11,828 19.5 * Not all appeals lodged are either superseded or heard. Some are withdrawn by the claimant after explanation or are not admitted as valid appeals.