asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many supplementary benefit claimants are being assessed as board and lodgers in his Department's local offices in Greenock and Port Glasgow;(2) how many supplementary benefit claimants live in hostels and are treated as boarders by his Department's local offices in Greenock and Port Glasgow;(3) how many supplementary benefit claimants reside in private nursing or residential homes and are treated as boarders by his Department's local offices in Greenock and Port Glasgow.

I regret that the information requested is not collected by individual local offices and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.