§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many individuals were in receipt of single payments in(a) Orkney and (b) Shetland in 1986–87, and in the latest financial year for which figures are available;
(2) what the social fund allocation for 1988–89 is for Orkney;
(3) how much was spent on single payments to claimants in Orkney in 1986–87.
§ Mr. PortilloThe Orkney isles are served by the Wick local office. Figures for the residents of Orkney are not kept separately in the information collected at Wick. Shetland is served by the local office in Lerwick.
Information on the number of people in receipt of single payment is not kept and would be disproportionately costly to obtain. However, information broken down by local office on the number and amount of single payments made during the period April 1986 to April 1987 is available in the Library, as are social fund allocations for 1988–89.