§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is his latest estimate for the amounts of money that go unclaimed in (a) supplementary benefit, (b) heating additions, (c) family income supplement, (d) housing benefit, (e) single payments and (f) supplementary pension; and whether he will give estimates for (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales;
(2) what is his latest estimate for the proportion of eligible claimants who do not claim the following benefits (a) supplementary benefit, (b) heating additions, (c) family income supplement, (d) housing benefit, (e) single payments and (f) supplementary pension; and whether he will give estimates for (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that not all the information requested is available. There are no reliable estimates about unclaimed heating additions or single payments. No estimates are available about unclaimed housing benefit: the latest information relates to rent and rate rebates and rent allowances in England and Wales. An estimate of the amount of unclaimed supplementary benefit in Scotland is available, but generally it is only possible to make reliable estimates of take-up of benefits for Great Britain as a whole. The latest information is given in the table.
Great Britain except where stated Year and Benefit Annual amount of unclaimed benefit £ million Proportion of eligible claimants not claiming benefit Per cent. 1981 Supplementary benefit *760 29 1981/82 Family income supplement 57 about 50 1982 Rent rebates † ‡28 Rate rebates † ‡35 Rent allowances † ‡38 1981 Supplementary pension 210 33 * includes (i) £50 million in Scotland, and (ii) amount of unclaimed supplementary pension. † Not known. ‡ in England and Wales.