§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information is available on the terms of consultation with each social security office regarding the social fund budget for 1989–90; and whether there were any discussions with given offices about their particular patterns of allocations.
§ Mr. NeedhamSocial fund allocations for 1989–90 were made according to an objective formula and there were no consultations with individual offices. As explained in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Redcar (Ms. Mowlam) on 23 March at columns739–42 I placed a note in the Library on 23 March setting out the basis on which the allocations were made.