§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many claims there have been for community care grants in each DHSS office in Londonderry city, Limavady, Coleraine and Magherafelt during the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many in each office were(a) granted, (b) refused and (c) how many of the applicants refused were advised on the refusal form to (i) apply for a budgeting loan, (ii) were offered a budgeting loan and (iii) how many offered a loan sought and received such a loan, or as much of such information as is available to him.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 3 July 1990]: Information about the number of community care grants processed each month, the number awarded and the amount paid by each social security office is available in the Library. The number of refusals can be derived from these figures.
Applicants who are refused community care grants do not need to apply for budgeting loans as social fund officers automatically consider the possibility of a loan in all such cases. No information is available about the number of loans subsequently offered or made to people whose applications for grants have been turned down.