§ Mr. Austin-WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many community care grants were given from the Thameside office; and how many were given to refugees in each financial year from 1991–92.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of the social fund is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. John Austin-Walker, dated 20 April 1994:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of Community Care Grants (CCG) awarded by the Benefits Agency's Thameside office and the number awarded by the Benefits Agency's Thameside office and the number awarded to refugees.I should clarify that the Benefits Agency does not have a Thameside office but does have a Thameside District which comprises of the offices of Woolwich and Bexley. I have, therefore, provided information relating to the Thameside District as a whole.The number of CCGs awarded in the District for each of the years 1991–92, 1993–94, which also include CCGs awarded on review, are given at Appendix A.Information on the number of CCGs awarded to refugees in the District for the same periods is not collected as a matter of course. The information requested could only be gathered by the manual examination of all the Social Fund applications in the Thameside District and this would incur disproportionate cost.I hope you find this reply helpful.619W
Appendix A Number of Community Care Grants (CCGS) awarded in the Benefits Agency's Thameside District Financial Year Number of CCGs awarded 1991–92 1,613 1992–93 2,123 1993–94 2,275