HC Deb 02 February 1994 vol 236 cc728-9W
Sir David Knox

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the main passported benefits to which recipients of(a) income support and (b) family credit are eligible; and if he will estimate the average weekly value of each benefit in each year since April 1988.

Mr. Burt

The information is in the table.

the country. It is not therefore possible to provide a national average figure.

5. Information about the average weekly value of free milk and vitamins available to recipients of Income Support and Family Credit and their dependents is not available centrally.

6. The amounts shown are the average awards. Social Fund funeral and maternity payments are made as one-off payments for particular events.

7. NHS Benefits are not cash benefits. People receiving IS and FC are entitled to full remission of NHS charges for prescriptions, dental treatment and wigs and fabric supports. They are also entitled to free sight tests and the full value of optical vouchers towards the cost of their glasses. They may also have help with the cost of travelling to hospital for NHS treatment. The statistical information collected centrally by the Department of Health does not separate the prescriptions etc provided free of charge to IS and FC recipients from those provided to other beneficiaries of the NHS Low Income Scheme.