Severe Hardship Payments (Hansard, 20 July 1993)

§ Mr. Burt

The administration of income support 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 M. Bichard to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 19 July 1993:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will give figures for the number of (a) referrals and (b) awards given by month from May 1989 to March 1991 for severe hardship payments by the Department of Social Security branch office in Bishop Auckland.

I have detailed below the total applications under the severe hardship provisions and the number in which payment was awarded.

Details of the total number of claims to severe hardship payments do not equate with the number of customers. This is because the statistics cover the number of applications, rather than the number of individuals who have claimed. Some customers may have made more than one application.

Severe Hardship Referrals—Bishop Auckland Branch Office
Month	Referrals	Awards
May 1989	5	3
June 1989	6	5
July 1989	6	5
August 1989	3	3
September 1989	5	1
October 1989	3	1
November 1989	6	6
December 1989	5	4
January 1990	8	7
February 1990	8	5
March 1990	5	2
April 1990	2	2
May 1990	3	3
June 1990	6	6
July 1990	9	4
August 1990	7	7
September 1990	7	5
October 1990	1	0
November 1990	3	2

199W

Month	Referrals	Awards
December 1990	5	1
January 1991	8	4
February 1991	7	5
March 1991	7	4

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.