To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his review of guidance to local offices concerning budget restrictions on social fund loans.

I refer the hon. and learned Member to my statement of 26 March at columns 21-40. A copy of the revised guidance is in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for grants and loans from the social fund are approved on review after initial rejection.

The information requested is contained in the national summary statistics which are placed in the Library monthly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the repayments of loans to the social fund are available in full for the making of furtherloans or grants.

Yes, but allocations to budgets remain a matter for judgment as appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was for the Leven, Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy social security offices the proportion of income support claimants repaying social fund budget and crisis loans for each quarter between January and December 1989.

[holding answer 26 March 1990]: Information about the local income support caseload is collected on a quarterly basis and the percentage of loans being repaid on the last day of each quarter is shown in the table.