§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what are the staff to claimant ratios for social fund departments(a) nationally, (b) in the Northern region, (c) in South Tyneside, (d) in Gateshead, (e) in Newcastle, (f) in Sunderland and (g) in North Tyneside, respectively.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe information is not available in the format requested. Details are recorded monthly of the staff days spent on social fund activity. Information to 28 February 1989, the latest available date, is given in the table.
February 1989 Staff days spent on Social Fund Income Support Load National 67,300 4,395,046 North Eastern Region 12,442 708,675 North Tyneside Gateshead 276 21,072 Newcastle St. James 206 14,926 Newcastle East 285 14,514 Newcastle West 179 10,451 Wallsend 173 7,986 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 75 4,363 Jarrow 172 7,515 North Shields 160 10,438 South Shields 285 12,006 Sunderland North 374 18,823 Sunderland South 238 15,389
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications were received in each month since 1 April 1988 for (i) community care grants, (ii) budgeting loans and (iii) crisis loans(a) nationally, (b) in the Northern region, (c) in South Tyneside, (d) in Gateshead, (e) in Newcastle, (f) in Sunderland and (g) in North Tyneside, respectively.
§ Mr. Peter LloydDetails of the Department's local offices both nationally and in the north-eastern region are given in this information held in the Library. Details of the offices in the North Tyneside and South Tyneside areas were given in my reply to the hon. Member on 23 March at column787.
Changes to the social fund on 11 April 1988 introduced community care grants, budgeting loans and crisis loans. 500W Information on the numbers of applications processed for social fund loans and grants, listed by local office, is in the Library.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken by social fund officers to reach a decision on crisis or budgeting loans or community care grants(a) nationally, (b) in the Northern region, (c) in South Tyneside, (d) in Gateshead, (e) in Newcastle, (f) in Sunderland and (g) in North Tyneside, respectively, for each month from April 1988.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe average for budgeting loans clearance times includes the time taken by the applicant to accept or refuse the loan offer. This time may vary from as little as a few minutes up to 14 calendar days.
The information available is shown in the table:
501W
Average clearance time (in whole working days) Crisis loans Budgeting loans Community care grants April 1988 National 0.5 17.1 8.7 North Eastern Region 1.0 17.1 9.0 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 24.0 11.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 7.0 9.0 Newcastle East 1.0 16.0 1.0 Newcastle West 1.0 16.0 14.0 Wallsend 1.0 24.0 5.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 6.0 27.0 1.0 Jarrow 3.0 14.0 5.0 North Shields 1.0 8.0 1.0 South Shields 3.0 40.0 13.0 Sunderland North 2.0 22.0 21.0 Sunderland South 2.0 19.0 1.0 May 1988 National 0.5 11.5 4.5 North Eastern Region 0.9 11.6 4.1 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 20.0 3.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 12.0 1.0 Newcastle East 1.0 12.0 1.0 Newcastle West 1.0 4.0 2.0 Wallsend 1.0 23.0 2.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 3.0 4.0 1.0 Jarrow 2.0 6.0 1.0 North Shields 1.0 25.0 1.0 South Shields 6.0 30.0 18.0 Sunderland North 2.0 19.0 6.0 Sunderland South 1.0 16.0 1.0 June 1988 National 0.6 11.2 4.3 North Eastern Region 0.8 11.2 4.3 North Tyneside Gateshead 2.0 11.0 1.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 8.0 7.0 Newcastle East 1.0 9.0 2.0 Newcastle West 1.0 4.0 3.0 Wallsend 1.0 6.0 3.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 3.0 1.0 Jarrow 1.0 5.0 1.0 North Shields 1.0 17.0 1.0 South Shields 7.0 15.0 6.0 Sunderland North 1.0 19.0 15.0 Sunderland South 1.0 26.0 5.0 502W
Crisis loans Budgeting loans Community care grants July 1988 National 1.0 13.9 9.7 North Eastern Region 1.1 12.5 8.7 North Tyneside Gateshead 2.0 6.0 1.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 6.0 4.0 Newcastle East 1.0 5.0 7.0 Newcastle West 2.0 7.0 4.0 Wallsend 1.0 6.0 5.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 6.0 1.0 Jarrow 1.0 23.0 20.0 North Shields 1.0 22.0 2.0 South Shields 5.0 19.0 11.0 Sunderland North 1.0 14.0 20.0 Sunderland South 1.0 26.0 9.0 August 1988 National 1.0 12.8 9.1 North Eastern Region 1.1 12.1 8.5 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 14.0 2.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 8.0 5.0 Newcastle East 3.0 4.0 1.0 Newcastle West 1.0 5.0 3.0 Wallsend 1.0 9.0 10.0 Soulh Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 8.0 5.0 Jarrow 1.0 17.0 16.0 North Shields 1.0 20.0 3.0 South Shields 4.0 30.0 19.0 Sunderland North 2.0 7.0 7.0 Sunderland South 2.0 9.0 11.0 September 1988 National 1.2 16.3 10.1 North Eastern Region 1.3 16.0 9.8 Norlh Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 11.0 3.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 12.0 7.0 Newcastle East 2.0 11.0 3.0 Newcastle West 1.0 16.0 5.0 Wallsend 2.0 13.0 6.0 Soulh Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 9.0 4.0 Jarrow 1.0 9.0 5.0 North Shields 1.0 27.0 8.0 South Shields 7.0 14.0 12.0 Sunderland North 1.0 18.0 13.0 Sunderland South 2.0 15.0 13.0 October 1988 National 1.3 13.8 9.0 North Eastern Region 1.3 12.5 8.1 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 10.0 5.0 Newcastle St. James 1.0 8.0 2.0 Newcastle East 1.0 10.0 4.0 Newcastle West 1.0 17.0 5.0 Wallsend 2.0 12.0 5.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 10.0 4.0 Jarrow 1.0 11.0 4.0 North Shields 1.0 25.0 8.0 South Shields 6.0 19.0 17.0 Sunderland North 1.0 17.0 11.0 Sunderland South 2.0 13.0 13.0
Crisis loans Budgeting loans Communiiy care grants November 1988 National 1.4 13.3 8.7 North Eastern Region 1.4 12.3 7.7 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 8.0 4.0 Newcastle St. James 3.0 9.0 2.0 Newcastle East 1.0 10.0 6.0 Newcastle West 1.0 5.0 3.0 Wallsend 2.0 13.0 4.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 8.0 4.0 Jarrow 1.0 14.0 12.0 North Shields 1.0 11.0 2.0 South Sheilds 5.0 17.0 11.0 Sunderland North 2.0 16.0 12.0 Sunderland South 2.0 17.0 16.0 December 1988 National 1.4 8.6 7.1 North Eastern Region 1.4 7.5 5.8 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 7.0 2.0 Newcastle St. James 3.0 5.0 5.0 Newcastle East 1.0 4.0 7.0 Newcastle West 1.0 5.0 2.0 Wallsend 1.0 4.0 4.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 3.0 1.0 Jarrow 1.0 10.0 8.0 North Shields 1.0 14.0 4.0 South Shields 5.0 8.0 6.0 Sunderland North 1.0 9.0 6.0 Sunderland South 2.0 14.0 11.0 January 1989 National 1.0 10.6 6.5 North Eastern Region 1.1 9.9 6.0 North Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 10.0 4.0 Newcastle St. James 2.0 9.0 4.0 Newcastle East 1.0 7.0 6.0 Newcastle West 1.0 5.0 2.0 Wallsend 1.0 7.0 6.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 2.0 9.0 7.0 Jarrow 1.0 8.0 5.0 North Shields 2.0 21.0 2.0 South Shields 3.0 14.0 13.0 Sunderland North 1.0 9.0 6.0 Sunderland South 2.0 17.0 11.0 February 1989 National 1.0 9.3 6.2 North Eastern Region 1.1 8.9 5.6 Norlh Tyneside Gateshead 1.0 9.0 3.0 Newcastle St. James 3.0 6.0 5.0 Newcastle East 1.0 8.0 14.0 Newcastle West 1.0 9.0 3.0 Wallsend 1.0 9.0 6.0 South Tyneside Houghton le Spring 1.0 10.0 5.0 Jarrow 1.0 15.0 11.0 North Shields 2.0 23.0 1.0 South Shields 3.0 11.0 6.0 Sunderland North 1.0 9.0 7.0 Sunderland South 1.0 14.0 9.0 All figures are provisional and subject to amendment.
503W
§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will publish a breakdown of the money spent from the latest social fund figures for community care grants, in percentage terms;
(2) what are the latest social fund figures for the community care grants with regard to (a) the allocated budget, (b) the amount spent from the budget and (c) the proportion of successful claims in percentage terms.
§ Mr. Peter LloydTotal expenditure on community care grants to the end of February 1989, was £34–1 million, and represented 56–8 per cent. of the budget, arising from 127,121 successful awards. Expenditure in February was over £6 million, representing 110 per cent. of anticipated monthly expenditure.
Approximately 50 per cent. of all applications received to the end of February were successful. The average success rate has gradually improved from the early months of the scheme and in February was 56 per cent. The largest identifiable reason for refusal is that the applicant is not in receipt of income support.