§ Mr. JackTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual cost of administering income support benefits for free school meals, free milk, wigs, fabric support, prescriptions, false teeth and glasses; and what is the annual value of these benefit payments.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe administration costs arising in the Department of Social Security in respect of the free welfare milk scheme are estimated to be £9.3 million in the year 1989–90. The administration costs in respect of the free school meals scheme and the exemption from NHS charges of income support recipients are not separately identifiable.
Administration costs in other Departments and elsewhere, and the benefits costs, of providing these schemes for income support recipients are the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friends the Secretaries of State for Health and for Scotland and my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Science and for Wales.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give his latest information on the number of claimants living in the Greenock and Port Glasgow parliamentary constituency aged below 25 years, over 25 years and married couples, receiving income support and the number of dependants covered by each of these three groups of payments.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe information is unavailable and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the latest available information on the number of claimants of income support, together with the number of dependants, in each of the parliamentary constituencies in the Strathclyde region; and if he will give the comparable information for 1979 and 1987.
300W
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardData on the number of dependants are unavailable and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Data on the number of claimants of income support are unavailable by parliamentary constituency. Data for the Department's offices covering Strathclyde region as a whole are in the table.
Number of supplementary benefit/income support claimants Year Numbers 1990 289,589 1987 253,955 1979 173,068 Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action which include a number where payment has ceased but other action is continuing. Data for 1990 is provisional and subject to amendment.