asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of people claiming family income supplement in England and Wales respectively; and what percentages the figures represent of the total of insured workers in each country.

I regret that the information is not available in the form requested. At 29 December 1981, the latest date for which fiures are now available, about 132,000 families in Great Britain were receiving family income supplement. Of these 108,000 were in England, 16,000 in Scotland and 8,000 in Wales. Figures for the number of insured workers are available only for Great Britain as a whole; the total was 24·8 million at the latest date for which figures are available, April 1980. At that time, the number of families receiving FIS was 88,000, of whom 72,000 were in England, 11,000 in Scotland and 5,000 in Wales. FIS is payable only to families with children, whereas insured workers may be single or without children.