§ Mr. ClayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing how many children there are in families who did not take up their entitlement to supplementary benefit and family income supplement.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 15 February 1989]: In 1985, families eligible for supplementary benefit but who did not claim are estimated to have included 160,000 children. The corresponding figure for family income supplement, based on the two years 1985 and 1986 and excluding the self-employed, was 231,000.