§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will make a further allocation of funds to the discretionary social fund budget in the current. financial year.
§ Mr. MossI am very pleased to announce that the Northern Ireland social fund discretionary budget for 1994–95 will be increased by a total of £400,000 as a result of better than expected loan recoveries by the Social Security Agency.
The budget for loans will be increased by £303,600 while the budget for grants will be increased by £96,400 increasing the original allocation to £20,463,600 and £9,736,400 respectively.
This increase in the social fund budget will ensure that more people receive help and that the fund continues to play an important role in targeting resources on those most in need.
Details of the revised budget have been placed in the Library.
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