§ Mr. Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the 20 English non-metropolitan counties which have shown the greatest percentage of growth in electorate since 1980; and what has been the percentage growth and actual figures in each case.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information requested is as follows:
Date Number of claimants Staff 1 July 1982 15,416 * 1 July 1983 16,212 148 1 July 1984 17,516 154 1 July 1985 18,380 164 * Not known. Direct comparisons between numbers of staff and claimants can be misleading as work loads vary considerably by type and duration of claim and the action that has to be taken. All these factors vary over time as a result of legislative, policy and procedural changes.
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) for those offices covering the Workington travel-to-work area, what is the total number of supplementary benefit claimants for the last month for which statistics are available and the figure for the comparable month in 1984;
565W(2) for those offices covering the Workington travel-to-work area, what is the total number of unemployed people claiming supplementary benefit during the last month for which statistics are available and the figures for the comparable month in 1984;
(3) for those offices covering the Workington travel-to-work area, what is the total number of supplementary benefit appeals registered during the last month for which statistics are available.
§ Mr. MajorThe numbers of people receiving supplementary benefit from the Workington local office are as follows:
July 1984 July 1985 All claimants 6,594 6,608 Unemployed claimants 2,509 2,538 Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action.
Fourteen supplementary benefit appeals were registered at Workington local office during the four weeks up to 24 September 1985.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people claimed supplementary benefit as unemployed; and, of these, how many claim benefit in ordinary board and lodging accommodation, broken down in age bands 16 years to 17 years, 18 years to 20 years, 21 years to 25 years and over 26 years, for each year from 1979 to 1984.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation about the number of claims is not available. The total number of unemployed people receiving supplementary benefit over the years 1979–1983 was as follows:
'000s 1979 566 1980 854 1981 1,318 1982 1,722 1983 1,826 Figures for 1984 are not available.
Information requested on the numbers of unemployed boarders broken down by age for these years is not available. The information that is available on the numbers of boarders is given in paragraph 4 of the statement by the Secretary of State on the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements and Resources) Miscellaneous Provisions Regulations 1985, Cmnd. 9467.
§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the percentage of mortgage defaults resulting in persons losing possession of their homes that are cases where the borrower has received supplementary benefit to take account of mortgage interest but not passed this element on to the building society concerned.
§ Mr. MajorI regret that the information is not available.
Yorkshire Region District Health Authority Chairman Address of District Health Authority Airedale Mr J S Bell Airedale General Hospital, Skipton Road, Steeton Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD20 6ID.