asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the present estimate of the number of housing benefit recipients for which a deduction is made in respect of one or more non-dependants and what are the numbers for each category of non-dependant deductions.

The estimated number of housing benefit recipients in Great Britain for which a deduction was made in respect of one or more non-dependants in autumn 1985 was as follows :

	(000's)
Certificated cases	350
Standard cases	410
Total	760

The number of non-dependants in each category in certificated housing benefit households was as follows:

	(000's)
Higher rate deduction	200
Lower rate deduction	180
Total	380

This total is higher than the corresponding figure quoted above because there is on average more than one non-dependant per household.Information on the number of non-dependants in each category in households receiving standard housing benefit is not available.