§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are refused family credit because at the time of their claim they are receiving statutory sick pay and are therefore not deemed to be undertaking remunerative work.
§ Mr. JackI understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that during the quarter to the end of June 1991 18,057 claims for family credit were disallowed on the grounds that no member of the family was engaged in remunerative work. Separate information is not available as to how many of those were cases where people were receiving statutory sick pay.