§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the annual cost of his Department's and its agencies administration of benefit payments(a) in total and (b) as a percentage of spending on benefit payments. [124254]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe estimated cost of administering the social security benefit system in Northern Ireland in 1998–99, the latest year for which information is available, was £125.6 million. This equates to 4 per cent. of benefit expenditure which amounted in total in that year to £3,168.8 million.
Responsibility for this subject has been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and is therefore no longer a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.