§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the number of grants made and the number of loans provided, together with the number refused since the social fund was introduced.
§ Mr. ScottThe information was published on 8 July in the Secretary of State's annual report on the social fund—Cm 1992—which is available in the Library.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what increase in social fund allocations for 1992–1993 would be needed to enable monthly average expenditure to reach the levels of expenditure in March 1992.
§ Mr. ScottAnnual social fund allocations enable expenditure to be managed flexibly and effectively throughout the year. An increase of £37.6 million would be required if the initial annual allocation for 1992–93 had been based solely on expenditure levels for the single month of March 1992. For a variety of reasons, expenditure in March has traditionally been heavy. Over 10 per cent. of last year's annual expenditure was made in March 1992.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 8 July,Official Report, column 224, to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Wells), when he received the university of York report on the social fund; when examination of the report by Ministers started and was completed; and for what reasons it was decided that such examination was necessary before publication.
§ Mr. ScottResearch reports commissioned by the Department are routinely submitted for ministerial clearance prior to publication, as required by the Department's standard research contract. We received the final draft of the report in April.