§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the benefits budget is for this financial year, broken down by English region. [87002]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 12 December 2002]: The Department does not forecast nor budget for expenditure on a regional basis. However, using the regional distribution of benefit expenditure for the 744W previous two years, where available, an illustrative regional breakdown of benefit spending for 2002–03 is given in the table.
£ billion Region North East 5.6 North West 14.2 Yorkshire and the Humber 9.4 East Midlands 7.3 West Midlands 9.9 Eastern 8.8 London 13.2 South East 12.5 South West 8.7 Total England 89.6 Source:
Pre-Budget Report forecasts for 2002–03, combined with statistical and accounting data for 2000–01 and 2001–02. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
Information is not available by Government Office Region for some benefits, the main ones being Statutory Maternity Pay, Social Fund and the Independent Living Funds. These are not included in the table. The amount of expenditure on benefits where no information is available is forecast to be £1.6 billion in 2002–03 for Great Britain as a whole (equating to 1.5 per cent. of benefit spending).