§ Sir Ian GilmourTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the effects of rent rises and the switch to community charge on the number of(a) families and (b) persons in families entitled to means-tested benefits during the current financial year; and if he will give the figures for before and immediately after the April 1988 benefit changes.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardEstimates of the number of people eligible for particular benefits can be made only retrospectively from survey data. The latest available information on take-up of income-related benefits is contained in the technical notes on take-up of benefits, copies of which are available in the Library.