§ Mr. NellistTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the latest figures of how many people are dependent on(a) income support, (b) family credit and (c) housing benefit, broken down into claimants, dependants and children in his Department's offices in Coventry and Warwickshire.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 5 March 1990]: The available information is listed in the table. The figures for income support show the number of claimants on 30 November 1989. Data are derived from a 100 per cent. count of cases in action which include a number where 487W benefit payments have ceased but other action is continuing. The figures for housing benefit show the total number in receipt of housing benefit on 30 November 1989. The family credit figures are based on those living in the areas covered by the local social security offices at the time their award was made on 23 February 1990. All of these figures include those who had made a claim where the award has yet to be made.
No figures are available for dependants or children and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Income support Family credit Housing benefit2 Coventry 32,830 1,534 37,249 Warwickshire1 24,207 1,802 37,155 1 Excluding the Coventry total. 2 Source is housing benefit management information system—returns from local authorities.