asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how frequently during the last 12 months his Department has used immigration information to establish the legitimacy of a claim for benefit.

When it is necessary to obtain information about a claimant's immigration status in order to determine his entitlement to supplementary benefit, such information can be obtained from the claimant's passport or, if necessary, direct from the immigration authorities. A record is not kept of the number of occasions on which such information is used to establish entitlement.