§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for(a) community care grants and (b) budgeting loans there have been in Northern Ireland from April 1991 to the latest available date; and of these how many he has (i) granted and (ii) refused.
§ Mr. HanleyResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. Wylie to Mr. William Ross, dated 18 November 1992:
As I am now responsible for social security operational matters your recent Parliamentary Question about Social Fund applications for Community Care Grants and Budgeting Loans has been passed to me for reply.
Information about the number of applications for Community Care Grants and Budgeting Loans from April 1991 is available in the Library under Social Fund Data and this is updated on a monthly basis. The details derived from this data are as follows:
396W
From 1 April 1991 to 31 October 1992 Number of applications Number awarded Number refused Community Care Grants 126,886 46,201 80,685 Budgeting Loans 154,590 92,086 62,504 I hope you find this information helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report and copies will be placed in the Library.