§ 112. Mr. KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the operation of the social fund.
§ Mr. PortilloThe social fund successfully came into operation on 11 April and is providing people with valuable help for exceptional expenses. That is a tribute to the thorough preparations which were made by the staff of the Department. We are placing monthly statistics in the Library which show the position in each local office.
§ Sir Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will redistribute social fund budgets between the local offices at Newbury and Oxford.
§ Mr. PortilloOn 1 July, the local office at Oxford assumed responsibility for serving those residents of Oxfordshire previously served by the local office at Newbury. These were, principally, the inhabitants of Didcot, Grove and Wantage. Accordingly the allocation to Newbury has been reduced proportionately and the money re-allocated to Oxford. The new allocations for the period 11 April 1988–31 March 1989 are as follows:
Grants budget £ Loans budget £ Newbury 34,902 80,251 Oxford 197,597 461,194