§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people aged 16 and 17 years in Birmingham not in employment, not on a youth training scheme and not in full-time education are receiving benefit.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 21 January 1993.
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for 432W Social Security asking how many people aged 16 and 17 years in Birmingham not in employment, not on a YT scheme and not in full time-education are receiving benefit.The complete range of information you requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. I have, however, detailed below the number of successful applications as a result of the hardship provisions, and these are outlined below. It should be noted that a direction to pay in these cases normally lasts for an eight week period, therefore, some of the applications successful in November may no longer be currently receiving benefit.
District November 1992 December 1992 Birmingham Chamberlain 13 12 Birmingham North West 19 10 Birmingham Heartlands 16 16 Birmingham South East 9 12 Birmingham South West 31 19 Totals 88 69 The number of successful applications do not equate to the number of customers as some customers may have made more than one application. The above information has been supplied by the Severe Hardship Claims Unit.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. A copy is also being placed in the Library.