§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his best estimates as to the number of foreigners in receipt of supplementary benefit and the cost in the following categories (a) Irish, (b) other non-United Kingdom citizens of the EEC, (c) Commonwealth, (d) other foreigners and (e) total.
§ Mr. MajorDetails of the citizenship or nationality of persons claiming supplementary benefit are not relevant to the determination of claims and are not, therefore, generally collected. Some statistics are available for nationals of the European Community—excluding Eire — to whom 1,078 awards were made in 1985. The circumstances of claimants vary widely and it is not possible to estimate costs.