Supplementary Benefit

Mr. D. E. Thomas

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the numbers of working families in Wales living below the supplementary benefit level.

Estimates of the number of working families in Great Britain with incomes below the supplementary benefit level are based on Family Expenditure Survey data. The number of sample cases is too small to permit any reliable estimate to be made for Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the number of national assistance-supplementary benefit claimants for Wales in 1948 and the latest year available; and if she will break down this information in the same way as it is presented in Social Trends Number 4, table 50.

Comparable information is not available for years prior to 1951. That for 1951 and 1974 is as follows:

		1974
	1951	(provisional)
Retirement pensioners and national insurance widows aged 60 years and over	61,800	98,400
Others over pension age	5,700	6,500
Unemployed with national insurance benefit	3,800	5,100
Unemployed without national insurance benefit	2,600	15,300
Sick and disabled with national insurance benefit	11,900	8,100
Sick and disabled without national insurance benefit	12,200	12,500
Women under 60 with dependent children	4,200	14,500
National insurance widows under 60	10,500	3,900
Others	7,100	1,900
Total persons receiving supplementary benefit	119,800	166,400
—of whom wage stopped (unemployed)	Not available	500

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Reportthe ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of net average weekly earnings of male manual workers in Wales for each year since 1948.

Information for years prior to 1967 is not available. That for 1967 to date is as follows:

Year			Singlehouseholder	Marriedcouple
1967	…	…	39	53
1968	…	…	39	53
1969	…	…	38	52
1970	…	…	37	50
1971	…	…	38	52
1972	…	…	34	48
1973	…	…	32	45
1974	…	…	36	49

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of gross average weekly earnings of male manual workers in Wales for each year since 1948.

Information for years prior to 1967 is not available. That for 1967 to date is as follows:

Year			Singlehouseholder	Marriedcouple
1967	…	…	29	42
1968	…	…	29	42
1969	…	…	28	40
1970	…	…	26	38
1971	…	…	27	38
1972	…	…	25	37
1973	…	…	23	34
1974	…	…	25	36

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the number of national assistance-supplementary benefit claimants for Scotland in 1948 and the latest year available; and if she will break down this information in the same way as it is presented in "Social Trends" Number 4, table 50.

Comparable information is not available for years prior to 1951. That for 1951 and 1974 is as follows:

		1974
	1951	(provisional)
Retirement pensioners and national insurance widows aged 60 years and over	68,000	164,000
Others over pension age	9,400	10,500
Unemployed with national insurance benefit	6,200	9,700
Unemployed without national insurance benefit	8,900	35,100
Sick and disabled with national insurance benefit	14,900	10,300
Sick and disabled without national insurance benefit	17,000	18,700
Women under 60 with dependent children	5,800	25,100
National insurance widows under 60	11,200	5,200
Others	9,200	2,300
Total persons receiving supplementary benefit	150,600	281,000
—of whom wage stopped (unemployed)	Not available	1,600

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of net weekly earnings of male manual workers in Scotland for each year since 1948, or the longest convenient period.

Information for years prior to 1967 is not available. That for 1967 to date is as follows:

Year			Single householder	Married couple
1967	…	…	36	51
1968	…	…	36	51
1969	…	…	36	51
1970	…	…	36	51
1971	…	…	39	53
1972	…	…	35	49
1973	…	…	33	46
1974	…	…	35	49

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will publish in the Official Report the ordinary supplementary benefit rates, including rent, as a percentage of gross average weekly earnings of male manual workers in Scotland for each year since 1948, or the longest convenient period.

information for years prior to 1967 is not available.1967 to date is as follows:

Year			Singlehouseholder	Marriedcouple
1967	…	…	27	40
1968	…	…	26	39
1969	…	…	27	39
1970	…	…	26	38
1971	…	…	27	39
1972	…	…	26	38
1973	…	…	24	35
1974	…	…	24	35

	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
Cohabitation cases investigated	209	256	327	398	493	538	523
Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced	104	103	121	128	155	180	208
Fictitious desertion cases investigated	60	50	97	110	91	94	101
Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced	35	27	40	45	32	43	41
Number of prosecutions authorised (cohabitation and fictitious desertion)^*	†	†	†	53	31	28	31
^* Separate figures for cohabitation and fictitious desertion cases are not kept on a regional basis.
† Not available.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many beneficiaries have been thought to be cohabiting or claiming fictitious desertion in Scotland for each year since 1968, the

		1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
Cohabitation cases investigated	…	310	324	421	388	471	441	703
Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced	…	201	185	257	199	246	260	413
Number of completed prosecutions	…	^*	15	16	12	26	43	63
Fictitious desertion cases investigated		113	125	126	87	93	94	145
Number of allowances withdrawn or reduced	…	82	85	84	49	44	50	85
Number of completed prosecutions	…	^*	17	13	26	18	9	14
^* Not available.

Volume 888: debated on Monday 17 March 1975