§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people qualified for noncontributory invalidity pension before the changeover to severe disablement allowance; and what proportion of those people now qualify for severe disablement allowance.
§ Mr. NewtonAn estimated 221,600, all of whom would have transferred to severe disablement allowance in November 1984 and would continue to receive the benefit for so long as they remain incapable of work, I regret that it is not known how many of these are still receiving the benefit, but is likely that most of them are. The November 1984 figure is probably underestimated but the extent of this will not be known until the results of the annual statistical exercise are available next year.