§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of people receiving income support/supplementary benefit in each of the years 1979–80 to 1991–92 for Scotland and Great Britain; and what is the estimate of dependants of these claimants in each year.
90W
§ Mr. BurtThe information available is in the tables. The most recent figures are as at May 1991, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Table 1 Supplementary benefit/income support recipients in Scotland Year Number of claimants Number of dependants 1979 286,000 165,000 1980 304,000 178,000 1981 371,000 238,000 1982 423,000 282,000 1983 440,000 273,000 1984 458,000 304,000 1986 506,000 326,000 1987 535,000 327,000 1988 499,000 328,000 1989 486,000 313,000 1990 481,000 296,000 1991 487,000 318,000
Table 2 Supplementary benefit/income support recipients in Great Britain Year Number of claimants Number of dependants 1979 2,855,000 1,516,000 1980 3,118,000 1,746,000 1981 3,723,000 2,399,000 1982 4,267,000 2,803,000 1983 4,349,000 2,889,000 1984 4,609,000 3,119,000 1986 4,938,000 3,354,000 1987 4,896,000 3,310,000 1988 4,352,000 3,036,000 1989 4,161,000 2,862,000 1990 4,180,000 2,770,000 1991 4,487,000 3,260,000 Notes:
1. No information is available for 1985.
2. Dependants means partners of a claimant and children and young persons aged up to 19, living in the household of a claimant.
Source: Supplementary Benefit/Income Support Annual Statistical Enquiries 1979–1991.