§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people currently claim family credit in Scotland. [53171]
§ Mr. DenhamThe administration of Family Credit is a matter for Mr. Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. David Rendel, dated 28 July 1998:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people currently claim Family Credit (FC) in Scotland.The information is not available in the format requested. FC is administered centrally by the FC Unit in Preston and, as such, statistics are produced on a national basis.A periodic scan of the FC computer system produces details of the numbers of families in receipt of FC, at that particular date, with each local Benefits Agency (BA) office area. Such information serves as a "snap-shot" of the position at the date of the scan and does not provide details of the number of families in receipt of the benefit annually.The latest scan was conducted on 30 April 1998. On that date a total of 69,565 people were in receipt of FC in the areas covered by the BA's Scottish offices. Please note that this figure is provisional and subject to change.I hope that this is helpful.