asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give statistics on the total number of wheelchair users in the United Kingdom and a breakdown into age groups, male and female, and broad categories of ailments.
The figures requested are not at present available, but it is estimated that about 420,000 people use?
| One-parent families | Two-parent families | |||||
| Number | Average weekly payment | Average time | Number | Average weekly payment | Average time | |
| (thousands) | £ | (months) | (thousands) | £ | (months) | |
| 1979 | 322 | 30·57 | 39·6 | 166 | 35·46 | 20·3 |
| 1980 | 336 | 38·05 | n/a | 245 | 39·21 | n/a |
| 1981 | 392 | 43·57 | 39·5 | 402 | 48·31 | 15·6 |
| 1982 | 441 | 39·24 | 38·1 | 488 | 46·26 | 17·0 |
| 1983* | 475 | 36·88 | 30·7 | 500 | 46·41 | 19·2 |
| * Provisional | ||||||
| n/a=Not available. | ||||||
Note: the fall in the amount of the average weekly payment after 1981 is due to the introduction of housing benefits.
Source: annual statistical inquiries.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the latest available figures for the number of (a) female lone parents and (b) male lone parents in receipt of supplementary benefit who are (i)
| (a) Female lone parents | (b) Male lone parents | ||||||
| Number | Number of children | Average weekly payment | Number | Number of children | Average weekly payment | ||
| (thousands) | (thousands) | (thousands) | £ | (thousands) | (thousands) | £ | |
| i. | single | 144 | 188 | 33·99 | 15 | 23 | 39·74 |
| ii. | widowed | 7 | 12 | 26·57 | |||
| iii. | divorced | 147 | 265 | 39·18 | |||
wheelchairs provided by the Health Departments and that some 80 per cent. are over 60 years of age. Information about the number and characteristics of wheelchair users will be collected in a survey of disabled people being conducted by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.