§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what method will be used to establish the size of the budget for the social fund administered by his Department's Brighton office; what will be the budget for the fund for the first year of operation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if it is his intention to allocate funds to the social fund for(a) Greenock, (b) Port Glasgow, (c) Strathclyde and (d) Scotland as a whole, in line with the total of single payments made in the financial year, 1986–87; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloThe grants and loans budgets for all offices were listed in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) on 4 November. The allocations are based largely on single payment expenditure in the latter part of 1986–87 but also reflect estimates of the need for social fund grants and loans based on the number and type of benefit recipients in each office.