§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the total number of claimants(a) claiming for board and lodging from his Department and (b) with dependent children in the latest year for which figures are available (i) in Wales and (ii) in each of the Department of Employment travel-to-work areas in Wales.
§ Mr. PortilloIn May 1987 an estimated 8,000 people were claiming for board and lodging accommodation charges in Wales. Less than 500 had dependent children. I regret that the information requested on the numbers in each of the Department of Employment travel-to-work areas in Wales is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. These estimates have been obtained from the Department's May 1987 quarterly
2 August 1983 31 July 1984 31 July 1985 13 August 1986 29 July 1987 Cleveland (Eston, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton) 67,458 75,340 79,214 78,781 74,048 Northumberland (Ashington, Berwick, Blyth, Hexham) 19,543 20,218 21,298 21,229 21,235 Durham (Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Durham, Peterlee, Scaham, Stanley) 59,262 62,557 65,603 65,263 63,247 Tyne and Wear (Gateshead, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow, Newcastle St. James, Newcastle East, Newcastle West, North Shields, South Shields, Sunderland North, Sunderland South, Wallsend) 144,005 153,122 160,354 158,940 157,404 Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action at the dates specified.
§ Mr. BlairTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were receiving supplementary benefit for 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 and the
2 August 1983 31 July 1984 31 July 1985 13 August 1986 29 July 1987 Darlington 12,779 13,406 14,467 15,005 14,481 Bishop Auckland 13,587 14,510 14,937 15,212 14,290 Peterlee 6,411 7,046 7,392 7,316 7,304 Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action at the dates specified