§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the income support live E, A and P and total cases for each of the district and branch offices in Great Britain for the first quarter of 1991 and the first quarter of 1994 and the percentage change over that period.
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe administration of Income Support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief380W executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Henry McLeish, dated 20 October 1994:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question requesting various statistical data concerning Income Support cases in Great Britain for the first quarters of 1991 and 1994.The information is not available in the exact format requested. This is because statistics are not readily available for each of the Agency's Branch Offices and to obtain them for the whole of Great Britain would incur disproportionate cost. However, I have provided the data requested broken down for the 159 Benefits Agency Districts. You should note that some Districts have had boundary changes which may have had some impact upon the percentage changes.I have enclosed the information and a copy has been placed in the Library.I hope you find this reply helpful.