§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the monthly numbers and amounts of loans for special needs since April, together with the comparable figures for grants one year ago.
§ Mr. PortilloThe table shows numbers and financial amounts of payments from the discretionary part of the social fund for April, May and June. These data are provisional. Single payment data were collected in four-weekly periods and figures corresponding to calendar months could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Data for the two periods most closely approximately to the hon. Member's request are therefore given. For urgent needs single payments only the number of decisions is available, not the number of awards.
477W
Supplementary Benefit 8 April 1987 to 5 May 1987 6 May 1987 to 2 June 1987 3 June 1987 to 30 June 1987 Single payments awards 000s 159 179 173 expenditure £ million 12.7 14.0 13.5 Urgent needs payments single payments decisions 1,104 1,026 1,081 expenditure £ million 0.085 0.107 0.99