§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the number of people receiving social security transitional payments under the schemes announced on 27 April 1988 and the likely expenditure in the current financiai year.
§ Mr. NeedhamAt 17 December 1988, the latest date for which information is available, transitional payments were being made to some 5,665 beneficiaries. It is estimated that the total expenditure in the current financial year will be in the region of? 1 million and this is being met by repayable advances from the civil contingencies fund pending parliamentary approval of a Supplementary Estimate.