§ Mr. GogginsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many income support claimants there are whose claims are dealt with by the Sale office but who do not live in the Borough of Trafford; [47529]
(2) how many income support claimants there are in the Wythenshawe and Sale, East Constituency; [47530]
(3) how many income support claimants there are whose claims are dealt with by the Wythenshawe office but who do not live in the City of Manchester. [47531]
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§ 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 Mr. Paul Goggins, dated 2 July 1998:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking for information relating to the number of Income Support (IS) claims from your constituents and details of which offices deal with their claims.The information is not available in the format requested. The Benefits Agency (BA) collates IS statistics by BA District. These Districts do not correspond to constituency boundaries, Local Authority areas or specific geographical areas. However, the BA in conjunction with the Employment Services, is currently exploring the advantages which might result in improved business delivery and customer service if there was greater alignment between BA and LA boundaries.The number of customers who were in receipt of IS as at 31 May 1998 for the BA's District of Greater Manchester Centre Operations, which includes the offices of Manchester Cheetham, Manchester Chorlton, Manchester Longsight, Manchester Openshaw, Manchester Rusholme and Manchester Wythenshawe, was 56,916, and for Greater Manchester South East Operations District, which includes the offices of Ashton, Buxton, Hyde, Macclesfield, Sale, Stockport and Wilmslow, was 55,715. This is the latest information available, it is provisional and may be subject to change.I hope you find this reply helpful.