§ Mr. KnoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing the numbers and percentages of families receiving one or more means-tested benefits in 1979 and the latest available year.
§ Mr. BurtThe information is in the table.
Benefit 1979 Recipients (000)s per cent. 1991 Recipients (000)s per cent. Supplementary benefit income support 488 (6.8) 1,320 (19.5) Family income supplement/family credit 76 (1.1) 435 (6.4) Housing benefit — 39 (0.6) Community charge benefit — 99 (1.5) Notes:
1. For the purposes of the answer, families are defined as couples or single people with children.
2. There are no statistics available for housing benefit and community charge benefit for 1979 as no similar scheme existed at that time.
3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
4. The figures give the numbers of families receiving each of the benefits. Some families receive more than one of these benefits, but it is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the numbers of such cases.
5. Income support replaced supplementary benefit in 1988.
6. Family credit replaced family income supplement in April 1988.