§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has of the number of recipients of family income supplement who have a total income which is less than their entitlement would be if they were in receipt of supplementary benefit.
§ Mr. WhitneyWe estimate from the small sample of cases generated by the 1981 family expenditure survey data that about 15 per cent. of family income supplement recipients would then have had a total income less than their entitlement on supplementary benefit if they had given up work.
Housing benefit and former schemes: Estimated caseload and expenditure 1979–80 to 1985–86 Great Britain 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 Standard cases Rent rebates and allowances Caseload (thousands) 1,430 1,570 1,840 1,900 2,200 2,200 2,100 Expenditure (£ million) 280 370 550 670 870 940 950 Rate rebates Caseload (thousands) 3,070 3,350 3,710 3,510 3,880 3,800 3,600 Expenditure (£ million) 200 270 370 440 540 570 600 Certificated cases Rent rebates and allowances Caseload (thousands) 1,890 1,990 2,310 2,500 2,770 2,700 2,700 Expenditure (£ million) 500 700 1,000 1,110 1,660 1,840 1,950 Rate rebates Caseload (thousands) 2,330 2,450 2,860 3,080 3,650 3,500 3,500 Expenditure (£ million) 250 300 400 500 730 810 850 Notes:
1. Figures relating to the former rent rebate, rent allowance and rate rebate schemes are shown under standard cases, and figures relating to the former help through the supplementary benefit scheme are shown under certificated cases.
2. Figures for 1984–85 and for 1985–86 are provisional estimates and are subject to revision.
§ Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are dependent upon supplementary or housing benefit in south Yorkshire at the present time or at the most recent date for which statistics are available; and how this number compares with the position in the county six years earlier.
§ Mr. WhitneyInformation is not available in the precise form requested. South Yorkshire is covered by 11 DHSS offices but the boundaries are not strictly conterminous. The number of claimants receiving supplementary benefit from those offices at February 1985 — the latest figures available — was 144,603, and at February 1979, 80,276.
About 85,000 households were receiving rate rebates in 1978–79. Local authority subsidy claims indicate that about 130,000 households were receiving standard rate rebates in 1984–85, about 7,000 of whom were also receiving housing benefit supplement and are therefore included in the supplementary benefit figures above.