HC Deb 25 June 1986 vol 100 cc211-3W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the number of claimants in receipt of (a) unemployment benefit only, (b) supplementary benefit only, (c) unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit for the latest available year at Department of Health and Social Security offices in Grimsby, excluding pensioner claimants and claimants with dependent children;

(2) what is the number of claimant couples with children in receipt of (a) unemployment benefit only, (b) supplementary benefit only, (c) unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit for the latest available year in Department of Health and Social Security offices in Grimsby.

Mr. Major

I regret that this information is not available. These statistics are not kept routinely so that the information requested could be obtained only by a special exercise which would be disproportionately expensive.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the number of (a) single payments and (b) urgent needs payments, weekly and one-off, paid to claimants who (i) are under pensionable age and are not required to register for work, (ii) persons under pensionable age required to register for work, (iii) persons over pensionable age and (x) the average rate per 1,000 claimants in (i), (ii) and (iii), (y) the average payment made to claimants in (i), (ii) and (iii) and (z) the number of claimants in (i), (ii) and (iii) with dependent children for the latest available year at Department of Health and Social Security offices in Grimsby.

Mr. Major

The following table shows, for the categories of claimants specified, numbers of single payments and urgent needs payments made in the year up to 8 April 1986 by the Grimsby local office.

Comparable information about the number of claimants with dependent children is not available.

Grimsby local office
Number of payments, rate and amount
1. Single payments
Claimants under pensionable age not required to register for work.
Number of payments 5,701
Average rate per 1,000 claimants 945
Average amount £69.89
Claimants under pensionable age required to register for work.
Number of payments 7,984
Average rate per 1,000 claimants 853
Average amount £64.14
Claimants over pensionable age.
Number of payments 1,186
Average rate per 1,000 claimants 171
Average amount £56.41
2. Urgent needs payments
Claimant under pensionable age not required to register.
Number of payments 258
Average rate per 1,000 claimants 43
Claimants under pensionable age required to register for work.
Number of payments 797
Average rate per 1,000 claimants 85
Claimants over pensionable age.
Number of payments 17
Average rate per 1,000 claimants 2

The amounts of urgent needs payments are not recorded.

The number of awards of single payments and urgent needs payments for the year ending 8 April 1986 have been set against the count of live cases in action as at 6 May 1986 to arrive at a rate per 1,000 claimants. These are the latest available figures.

Mr. Austin Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of claimants in receipt of (a) sickness benefit, (b) invalidity benefit pension (c) industrial disablement benefit and (d) non-contributory invalidity benefit and higher non-contributory invalidity benefit or severe disablement allowance for the latest available year at Department of Health and Social Security offices in Grimsby.

Mr. Major

The numbers of claimants in receipt of sickness benefit, invalidity benefit-pension and severe disablement allowance on 3 June 1986, and in receipt of industrial disablement benefit on 11 February 1986 (the latest dates for which information is available) at the Department's local office in Grimsby were as follows:

Number
Sickness and invalidity benefit/pension 3,988
Severe disablement allowance 1,003
Industrial disablement benefit 1,033

Separate records are not kept of the number of claimants in receipt of sickness benefit and invalidity benefit-pension. Both housewives' non-contributory invalidity pension and non-contributory invalidity pension were replaced by severe disablement allowance from 29 November 1984.