§ Mr. Charles KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many registered farmers claimed social security benefits in each financial year since May 1997; and if he will make a statement; [46943]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of farmers who have begun drawing social security benefits since May 1997; and if she will make a statement. [46941]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe only available source of data about the number of farmers in receipt of Social Security benefits is the Family Resources Survey (FRS) which asks self-employed respondents whether their job or business includes any commercial farming activity. The latest year for which FRS information is available is 1996–97. For that year, in around half of the cases that responded positively to the question, the individual, or their partner (if they had one), was in receipt of at least one Social Security benefit.
The total number of farmers, partners and directors and members of their family who were working on agricultural and horticultural holdings on 1 June 1997 was 354,406.
Notes:
- 1. Commercial farming is defined as self employment which involves the commercial production of crops and crop products, and animals and animal products.
- 2. The answer refers to cases where the benefit unit to which the respondent belongs is in receipt of at least one Social Security benefit. It is based on unadjusted sample counts and is subject to sampling error and variability in non response.
- 3. The total number of farmers was derived from the June 1997 Agricultural and Horticultural census of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and is not directly comparable with FRS data.