§ Mr. Clayasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons are currently in receipt of invalidity pension; and of these what percentage is required to pay prescription charges.
§ Mr. MajorAt 2 April 1983, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 737,000 invalidity pensioners of whom 61,500 were over minimum pension age. In December 1983, there were 67,000 invalidity pensioners who were also in receipt of supplementary allowance. In 1983 there were therefore at least 128,500 invalidity pensioners eligible for free prescriptions. In addition, other invalidity pensioners may qualify, eg. on the grounds of low income or because they suffer from specified medical conditions which exempt them from charges, but I regret that these figures are not available.