§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people served by the social security offices in(a) Doncaster and (b) Wath-on-Dearne have been refused loans by officers of the social fund since its inception on the grounds that the applicants lacked sufficient income to repay such loans.
§ Mr. Nicholas ScottFrom April 1988 to September 1989, on 58 occasions in the Doncaster East local office area, 146 in the Doncaster West local office area and 27 in the Wath-on-Dearne local office area, the social fund officer refused a loan application giving as a reason the applicants' inability to repay. This represents 0.8 per cent., 2 per cent. and 0.6 per cent. of the applications processed for these areas respectively.