§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the number of(a) men and (b) women receiving (i) invalidity benefit and (ii) severe disablement allowance.
§ Mr. ScottAt April 1987, the latest date for which figures are available, the number of people in receipt of invalidity benefit and severe disablement allowance was:
Invalidity benefit Severe Disablement Allowance Men 754,000 102,000 Women 214,000 158,000
§ Ms. AbbottTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on progress on the conversion of supplementary benefit cases to income support at his Department's offices in Hackney, Stoke Newington, Shoreditch, Hoxton and Finsbury Park; what percentages of cases have to date been converted; and, in
384Wrespect of those offices that have not yet completed the conversion, when each office expects to have finished the conversion exercise.
§ Mr. PortilloThe conversion exercise has been completed.
§ Ms. AbbottTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in theOfficial Report the number of supplementary benefit and income support claims received in the last four-week period for which records are available and the percentage of claims awaiting a decision at the end of that four-week period; and if he will supply this information in respect of (i) his Department's Hackney office, (ii) his Department's Stoke Newington office, (iii) his Department's Finsbury Park office, (iv) London north region as a whole and (v) London south region as a whole.
§ Mr. PortilloSince the introduction of income support, management information on claims has been recorded calendar monthly instead of four-weekly. The figures in the table relate to the month ended 31 May 1988:
Supplementary Benefit Income Support Claims received during period 1 Percentage awaiting decision at end Claims received during period 1 Percentage awaiting decision at end National 30,416 18.0 283,837 21.0 Hackney 33 5.1 706 23.2 Stoke Newington nil 44.6 417 44.8 Finsbury Park 49 31.5 957 47.9 London North Region 2,510 25.1 40,695 30.3 London South Region 2,783 21.0 38,194 25.0 1 This is the percentage of all claims held awaiting a decision—not a percentage of those cases received during the month. This information was obtained from internal regional management statistical returns.