asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of non-United Kingdom citizens in receipt of supplementary benefit for each of the years 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and at the latest date for which figures are available.

Details of the citizenship or nationality of persons claiming supplementary benefit are not generally collected. However, some statistics are available for nationals of the European Community, excepting Eire, and of certain other European countries. Records are available for 1982, 1983, 1984 and up to July 1985 and the total number of awards is shown in the table.