§ Ms Julie MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents in each constituency in Wales were in receipt of income support on 31 December 1997 or the nearest date for which figures are available; and how many children lived in such lone parent families on the same date. [28893]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe administration of Income Support is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Ms Julie Morgan, dated 24 February 1998:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many lone parents in each constituency in Wales were in receipt of Income Support (IS) on 31st December 1997 or the nearest date for which figures are available; and how many children live in such lone parent families on the same date.The information is not available in the format requested. The Benefits Agency (BA) collates statistics by BA District and these Districts do not correspond to constituency boundaries or specific geographical areas.The BA does not routinely collate information relating to the number of children who live in lone parent families who are in receipt of IS. However, the departmental quarterly statistical enquiry provides the number of dependants within lone parent families in Wales.302WThe available information is shown in the attached table. The information is provisional and may be subject to change.I hope this reply is helpful.
Number of income support customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of the family premium and the number of dependants in these
households for the Benefit Agency's District in Wales
Benefits Agency Districts in Wales Number of IS customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of family premium as 30 November 19981,2 Number of dependents within the households of those IS customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of family premium as at May 1997 3,4,5 Cardiff and Vale 8,911 18,000 Gwent Borders 6,243 12,000 Gwyneddigion Maldwyn 4,239 8,000 South Wales Valleys 14,807 29,000 South West Wales 11,501 21,000 Wrexham and North West Coast 7,266 14,000 1 This information relates to the number of customers in receipt of the lone parent rate of the Family Premium (formerly known as the Lone Parent premium). 2 The figures represent a snapshot in time and do not include those lone parent customers who are pensioners nor those registered sick who qualify for a higher rate premium such as a pensioner or disability premium. 3 Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand and subject to a degree of sampling error (sample size 5 per cent.). 4 These figures do not include those lone parent customers who are pensioners nor those registered sick who qualify for a higher rate premium such as a pensioner or disability premium. 5 Dependants are aged 0–18 years. Notes:
BA's Cardiff and Vale District includes the offices of Barry, Cardiff Central, Cardiff East and Cardiff West.
BA's Gwent Borders District includes the offices of Cwmbran and Newport.
BA's Gwyneddigion Maldwyn District includes the offices of Aberystwyth, Caernarfon, Dolgellau, Holyhead, Llangefni, Newtown and Porthmadog.
BA's South Wales Valleys District includes the offices of Aberdare, Bargoed, Blackwood, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Porth and Tonypandy.
BA's South West Wales District includes the offices of Ammanford, Carmarthen, Gorseinon, Haverford West, Llandeilo, Llanelli, Morriston, Neath, Pembroke Dock, Pontardawe, Port Talbot and Swansea.
BA's Wrexham and North West Coast District includes the offices of Colwyn Bay, Deeside, Rhyl and Wrexham.
The information is the latest available, is provision and maybe subject to change.