The information requested is given in the following table.
Number of awards (thousand) Average award (£) Recoveries (£ million) 1997-98 48 792 1.0 1998-99 46 839 0.9 1999-2000 44 866 0.8 2000-01 40 892 0.7 2001-02 42 912 0.6 2002-03 45 929 1.1 2003-04 46 1,019 1.2 2004-05 44 1,051 1.4 2005-06 42 1,081 1.3 2006-07 41 1,117 1.0 2007-08 40 1,162 0.7 Note: Recoveries in each year represent the total recovered from estates in that year, not the total recovered from awards made in that year. Source: Annual reports by the Secretary of State for social security/work and pensions on the social fund (with greater accuracy for recoveries than in the annual reports for the first three years obtained from the DWP social fund policy, budget and management information system).