§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people in Wales are living at or below the basic supplementary benefit levels in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(2) what percentage of the population of Wales are living at or below the basic supplementary benefit levels; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
151W(3) what has been the change in the number and population of people in Wales living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels, between 1979 and 1986;
(4) how many people of pensionable age in Wales are living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(5) what proportion of those people of pensionable age in Wales are living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(6) what has been the change in number, and proportion, of people of pensionable age in Wales living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels, between 1979 and 1986;
(7) how many people below pensionable age in Wales are living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(8) what proportion of those people in Wales below pensionable age are living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(9) what has been the change in the number and proportion of people below pensionable age, who live on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels, in the years between 1979 and 1986;
(10) how many people living on or below the basic supplementary benefits levels, in Wales, live in households which contain one or more full-time wage earners;
(11) what proportion of people living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels, in Wales, live in households which contain one or more full-time wage earners;
(12) what proportion of the people below pensionable age living on or below the basic supplementary benefits levels, in Wales, live in households which contain one or more full-time wage earners;
(13) of the people below pensionable age in Wales living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels, what proportion live in households where there are dependent children;
(14) of the people below pensionable age in Wales living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels, how many live in households where there are dependent children;
(15) how many of the people in Wales living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels are children; and what proportion they represent of (a) the total number of people in Wales living on or below basic supplementary benefit levels and (b) the total number of people below pensionable age in Wales living on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels;
(16) how many families with children in Wales live on or below the basic supplementary benefit levels.
§ Mr. MajorI refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Dunfermline, East (Mr. Brown) on 6 November at column584.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people are claiming supplementary benefit in Wales; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979;
(2) what was the increase in the number of people claiming supplementary benefit in Wales between 1979 and 1986.
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§ Mr. LyellThe numbers of people receiving supplementary benefit in Wales in February 1986, the latest available figures, and at a comparable date in each year since 1979 are given in the table. The increase in numbers between 1979 and 1986 was 108,000, a rise of 59.3 per cent.
Year Numbers 1979 182,000 1980 170,000 1981 195,000 1982 229,000 1983 255,000 19841 271,000 1985 279,000 1986 290,000 1 Figures for August 1984 have been given because no information is available for February of that year. Source: Supplementary Benefit Quarterly Statistical Enquiry rounded to nearest 1,000.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the people living in Wales depend on supplementary benefit; and what are the corresponding figures for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. LyellThe table shows the proportion of people living in Wales dependent upon supplementary benefit in December 1984, the latest available figures, and on comparable dates since 1979.
Year Per cent. 1979 9.5 1980 10.3 1981 13.1 1982 15.2 1983 15.6 1984 16.8 Source: Supplementary Benefit Annual Statistical Enquiry and population data from the Welsh Office.
§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many families in Wales have incomes below the tax threshold; and what proportion of these are working families.