§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what budgets have been allocated under the social fund for 1988–89 to each of his Department's offices situated in(a) Liverpool, (b) Knowsley, (c) Sefton, (d) St. Helens, (e) Wirral, (f) Clwyd and (g) Gwynedd;
(2) how many claimants received payments of supplementary benefit from his Department's offices situated in (a) Liverpool, (b) Knowsley, (c) Sefton, (d) St. Helens, (e) the Wirral, (f) Clwyd, and (g) Gwynedd during 1986; and at what total cost in each case;
(3) what estimate he has of the number of claimants likely to be receiving income support payments from Department of Health and Social Security offices situated in (a) Liverpool, (b) Knowsley, (c) Sefton, (d) St. Helens, (e) the Wirral, (f) Clwyd, and (g) Gwynedd after April 1988; and at what estimated total cost in each case.
§ Mr. Portillo[holding answer 14 December 1987]: Local offices which serve the areas requested are as follows. Their boundaries are not conterminous.
(a) Liverpool—
- Liverpool—
- Belle Vale
- Breckfield
- City
- Edge Hill
- Garston
- Norris Green
- Toxteth
- West Derby (part)
(b) Knowsley—
- Liverpool—
- Huyton (part)
- Kirkby
- West Derby (part)
- Widnes (part)
(c) Sefton—
- Liverpool—
- Bootle
- Crosby
- Southport
(d) St. Helens—
- Liverpool—Huyton (part)
- St. Helens
- Warrington (part)
(e) Wirral—
- Birkenhead North
- Birkenhead South
938 - Wallasey
(f) Clwyd—
- Colwyn Bay (part)
- Rhy1
- Wrexham
(g) Gwynedd—
- Anglesey
- Caernarfon
- Colwyn Bay (part)
- Porthmadog/Dolgellau
The allocation of social fund budgets to these offices was contained in my hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled's reply to my Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) on 4 November at columns 774–781.
The table sets out the number of claimants who received payments of supplementary benefit at each of these offices during 1986.
Number receiving payment of supplementary benefit Office Number Birkenhead— North 11,802 South 8,747 Liverpool— Belle Vale 6,600 Bootle 7,521 Breckfield 7,248 City 3,656 Crosby 7,156 Edge Hill 5,046 Garston 5,829 Huyton 8,818 Kirkby 10,596 Norris Green 3,983 Toxteth 6,997 West Derby 6,259 St. Helens 12,650 Southport 8,620 Wallasey 7,686 Warrington 14,344 Widnes 10,416 Wales— Anglesey 6,356 Caernarfon 5,680 Colwyn Bay 7,719 Porthmadog/Dolgellau 5,982 Rhyl 13,107 Wrexham 19,246 Source: 100 per cent. count of cases, this data is provisional and subject to amendment.
I regret that no information is available on either total benefit expenditure or estimated numbers of income support recipients for the individual areas.