§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants of income support in each Benefit Agency Office having claimants in Derbyshire, have arrangements for(a) direct payment of housing costs, (b) attachment of community charge, (c) direct re-payments to the social fund, (d) direct payments to the electricity companies and (e) direct payments to British Gas; and what are the total counts for (a) to (e) for customers who are residents of Derbyshire.
§ Mr. Burt[pursuant to his answer 10 May 1993, c. 342–43]: Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, has written further to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mr. M. Bichard to Mrs. Margaret Beckett dated 21 June 1993:
I am writing to you further to my letter of 7 May 1993 in response to your earlier Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking about persons in each Benefits Agency office in Derbyshire who had arrangements for direct payments to be made from their income support.
At that time I said that I would write to you at a later date giving figures for the number of persons in each Benefits Agency office in Derbyshire who had their mortgage payments paid direct to their mortgage lender.
I am pleased to say that these figures are now available and are as detailed below as at 31 May 1993.
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Number Derby (London Road) 1,431 Derby (Becket Street) 3,269 Ilkeston 1,818 Buxton 189 Chesterfield 1,279 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.