Income Support (Hansard, 26 May 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 Michael Bichard to Mr. Nigel Evans, dated 25 May 1993:

Numbers of claims to social security benefits
Benefit	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Income Support	2,716,364	4,196,654	4,089,336	4,428,866	4,437,816
SF Crisis Loans⁵	496,360	664,812	596,030	711,452	837,043
SF Community Care Grants⁵	312,151	524,284	629,316	1,028,640	1,183,945
SF Budget Loans⁵	926,308	1,132,448	1,092,395	1,360,145	1,497,002
SF Maternity Payment⁵	¹—	¹—	234,158	262,345	271,598
SF Funeral Payment⁵	¹—	¹—	68,372	77,735	83,386
Sickness/Invalidity Benefit	722,321	1,045,442	1,053,667	1,118,284	1,085,631
Maternity Benefit	122,673	117,752	98,828	106,736	97,378
Severe Disablement Allowance	35,636	56,454	57,339	64,513	59,185
Retirement Pension	592,850	770,567	735,490	749,513	657,401
Widows Payment	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	56,032
Widows Benefit	41,784	58,769	56,612	56,598	44,344
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit	82,516	109,886	96,214	95,592	101,341
Family Credit	³434,138	1,016,786	968,587	999,060	1,154,478
War Pensions	29,216	34,699	46,033	80,430	137,567
Invalid Care Allowance	52,653	53,689	63,021	75,266	91,265
Attendance Allowance	326,734	378,119	391,205	512,835	⁴—
Attendance Allowance 65 +²	²—	²—	²—	²—	449,510
Mobility Allowance	226,419	243,851	236,808	268,689	⁴—

632W

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 how many senior citizens receive Income Support in (a) Lancashire,(b) the North West and (c) Great Britain. The information is not available in the form you have requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. This is because statistics that reflect the number of senior citizens (that is, those who have reached retirement age) in receipt of Income Support, either nationally or by region are not routinely collected. However, I am able to tell you that there are 1,570,805 Income Support pensioners in Great Britain as a whole. An Income Support pensioner is defined as a customer aged 60 or over. The source of this information is the Income Support Mangagement Information Statistics. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.