§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give a breakdown of the number of families with children in receipt of supplementary benefit according to the number of children in the family at the latest date for which information is available.
§ Mr. WhitneyProvisional information at December 1983 is as follows:
Number of families receiving supplementary benefit Number of dependent children in family (thousands) 1 421 2 329 3 146 4 54 5 or more 25 Source: Annual statistical inquiry 1983.
§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many unemployed people in receipt of supplementary benefit, who are classified as householders, are aged under 26 years; and of these how many have (a) no child dependants, (b) no adult dependants and (c) neither adult nor child dependants.
§ Mr. WhitneyNo information is available about the number of unemployed householder claimants aged under 26. At December 1983 it is provisionally estimated that there were 176,000 unemployed householder claimants aged under 25, of whom 98,000 had no adult dependants. No information about their child dependants is available.
§ Mr. Fatchettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently in receipt of supplementary benefit under regulation 15 of the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements and Resources) Regulations, broken down into Department of Health and Social Security areas.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information is not available in the form requested. The latest available information on332W mortgage payers relates to December 1982 and is contained in table 6.1 of the "Annual Statistical Enquiry 1982," a copy of which is in the Library.
§ Mr. Fatchettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, under the new regulations relating to supplementary benefit single payments, a person under the age of 26 years who finds unfurnished accommodation will be eligible for a single payment for furniture and household equipment.
§ Mr. WhitneyWhether or not such a person would be eligible for a single payment for furniture and household equipment would be a matter for the independent adjudicating authorities, having regard to the provisions of the Supplementary Benefit (Single Payments) Regulations and to the facts of the particular case.