HC Deb 19 April 1994 vol 241 cc486-7W
Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of(a) all pensioners, (b) pensioners aged 75 years or over, (c) pensioners aged 80 years or over and (d) pensioners aged 85 years or over were in receipt of income support at (i) the latest date for which figures are available, (ii) five years earlier, (iii) 10 years earlier and (iv) 15 years earlier.

Mr. Hague

The information requested is in the table.

Pensioners receiving income support/supplementary benefit as a Percentage of the Great Britain population
Year 60 and over 75 and over 80 and over 85 and over
1993 14.7 25.4 31.2 35.8
1988 14.8 23.7 27.5 30.4
1983 16.7 25.3 27.0 27.1
1978 18.2 25.9 27.0 27.8

Notes: 1. Sources: Supplementary Benefit Statistical Annual Enquiries, 1978 and 1983.

  • Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiry, May 1988.
  • Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, May 1993.
  • Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
  • Government Actuaries Department.
2. For Income Support purposes, pensioners are defined as cases where the claimant and/or partner is aged 60 or over. 3. For Supplementary Benefit purposes, pensioners are defined as

Geographical area1 Tenants with Housing Benefit (Thousands)2 As a percentage of all dwellings3
Local Authority Private Local Authority Private
North (including Cumbria) 232 74 65 49
Yorkshire and Humberside 304 106 64 45
East Midlands 188 75 61 42
East Anglia 82 48 59 34
London 408 267 60 47
South East (excluding London) 347 243 58 42
South West 168 120 62 43
West Midlands 312 94 65 43
North West (excluding Cumbria) 379 176 69 58
Wales 152 68 70 54
Scotland 460 84 57 41
Great Britain 3,032 1,355 62 45
Data Sources: the Housing Benefit Management Information System quarterly caseload count4 November 1992 and the Housing and Construction Statistics for December 1992.
1 Standard regions. Information for individual local authorities for the whole of Great Britain is not available.
2 The figures are for benefit units, not individuals. A benefit unit may be a couple or a single person.
3 Includes unoccupied dwellings.
4 Includes estimates for non-responding authorities.