HC Deb 14 July 1987 vol 119 c448W
Mr. McLeish

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of people in receipt of supplementary benefit in the Fife, Central constituency at (a) June 1979, (b) June 1983 and (c) June 1987.

Mr. Portillo

Fife, Central constituency is served by Kirkcaldy, Cowdenbeath and Leven local offices, although the local office and constituency boundaries are not conterminous. The table shows the number of people receiving supplementary benefit for the years requested and, as the information is made available on a quarterly basis, May figures have been produced as the nearest alternative to June for each year:

May 1979 May 1983 May 1987
Kirkcaldy local office 5,377 8,714 11,035
Leven local office 2,746 4,335 5,234
Cowdenbeath local office 2,168 3,352 4,452
TOTALS 10,291 16,401 20,721

Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action.