§ Mr. CabornTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in York were in receipt of supplementary benefit in each year from 1979 to 1987; and how many were in receipt of income support in each year since then.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe complete range of information requested in this question is not available. This is because statistics of a local nature are destroyed at regular intervals ranging from 18 months to five years. The information available from 1987 has been drawn from the income support management information statistics.
Statistics relating to supplementary benefit and income support recipients are collected from benefit offices on a quarterly basis. The figures show the number of recipients at a given date rather than for a particular period.
The York benefit office covers an area of approximately 450 square miles. It is not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to identify those customers who were living in the city of York itself. The figures for York benefit office since May 1987 are in the table.
Customers in receipt of Supplementary Benefit or Income Support from York benefit office since May 1987 Year February May August November Supplementary Benefit (Predecessor of Income Support) 1987 — 15,109 15,423 14,705 Income Support 1988 1— 13,784 14,252 13,507 1989 14,063 13,660 14,251 13,979 1990 14,344 12,723 13,734 13,826 1991 14,445 13,893 14,637 14,705 1 A quarterly supplementary benefit count was not conducted in February 1988.