To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish figures showing numbers claiming income support for mortgage interest according to household type in Wales, indicating (a) the number of claimants and (b) percentage of all claiming households that were (i) pensioners of over 80 years, (ii) pensioners between 60 and 80 years of age, (iii) households entitled to disability premiums, (iv) households entitled to lone-parent premium and (v) unemployed households for each year from 1988.
Estimates of the number of claimants of income support who have mortgage interest considered in their assessment are shown in the table. These estimates are obtained from the income support statistics annual inquiries which is a sample of one in 100 claimants in May and are subject to sampling variability. Figures for 1988 are not readily available.
| Claimants of income support for mortgage interest | ||||
| Year1 | ||||
| 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | |
| Total claimants (rounded to nearest thousand) | 22,000 | 26,000 | 27,000 | 34,000 |
| Percentage that were:2 Pensioners over 80 | 3·6 | 6·7 | 3·0 | 3·9 |
| Pensioners between 60 and 80 | 22·3 | 27·8 | 19·6 | 16·3 |
| Households entitled to disability premiums | 15·6 | 16·8 | 19·3 | 22·6 |
| Households entitled to lone-parent premiums3 | 21·0 | 20·0 | 21·5 | 21·1 |
| Unemployed4 | 27·7 | 19·2 | 27·4 | 30·0 |
| 1 At May. | ||||
| 2 The percentages shown do not add to 100 as the breakdown given excludes the "others" category. | ||||
| 3 Excluding those who are also entitled to a disability premium. | ||||
| 4 All claimants under 60 who have to sign on as available for work. | ||||
Source: Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries (Department of Social Security).