§ Mr. CawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he intends to publish his annual report on the Social Fund for 1998–99 and the Social Fund Commissioner's annual report. [91644]
§ Angela EagleThe Secretary of State's annual report on the Social Fund for 1998–99 (Cm 4351) was published today and has been laid before Parliament.
The report records that total gross expenditure in 1998–99 was £558 million. This included 225,000 non-repayable grants and 1,801,000 interest free loans together worth £501 million and funeral, maternity and cold weather payments totalling £57.2 million. In addition, around 10 million pensioners in over 7 million households received winter fuel payments totalling £200 million.
The Social Fund Commissioner's annual report has also been published today and copies have been placed in the Library.