§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current work load of contributory and non-contributory benefit claims and payments at his Department's local offices of Perry Barr and Handsworth in Birmingham; and how this compares with one year ago.
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§ Mr. WhitneyThe number of incapacity benefit, retirement pension, widow's benefit and child benefit claims handled and the total number of payments made (excluding supplementary benefit payments) by the Perry Barr and Handsworth local offices in September 1983 and September 1984 were as follows:
September 1983 September 1984 Perry Barr-Claims 760 650 Payments 3,900 5,800 Handsworth Claims 760 560 Payments 4,000 6,100 The basis of these counts has changed since 1983 and the figures are not, therefore, directly comparable.