§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in Blyth Valley are receiving income support, family credit and housing benefit; and what percentage of the Blyth Valley population this represents.
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§ Mr. BurtThe 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 Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Ronnie Campbell, dated 26 October 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 how many people in Blyth Valley are receiving Income Support, Family Credit and Housing Benefit; and what percentage of the population this represents.The information you require is not available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because statistics relating to Family Credit and Income Support are collected by Benefits Agency Branch Office and for Housing Benefit by Local Authority, whose boundaries do not correspond exactly with those of parliamentary constituencies, as requested. To obtain all the relevant information it would be necessary to examine all records in the offices covering the Blyth Valley constituency.However, I can tell you that, as at 31 August 1993, there were 10,309 recipients of income support and, as at 1 October 1993, 1,246 recipients of Family Credit in the area covered by the Benefits Agency's Blyth Branch Office.The Blyth Valley constituency is served by Blyth Valley and Wansbeck Local Authorities. For 1992 the average number of Housing Benefits recipients for Blyth Valley was 7,177 and for Wansbeck 6,302. The figures quoted are averages of the quarterly counts of Housing Benefits cases. It is not possible however to state what percentage of the Blyth Valley population this represents as the Office of Population and Censuses have advised that population estimates are not made by parliamentary constituency. The official census of 1991 showed that there were 79,584 people living in the county district of Blyth Valley.The information has been obtained from the Family Credit Unit, the Analytical Services Division and the Income Support Management Information Statistics.I hope this information is helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.