§ 27. Mr. Rossasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will state the average allowance presently made in respect of rent in the supplementary payments made by the National Assistance Board to retirement pensioners.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am informed by the National Assistance Board that, at the end of 1959, 863,000 out of the 976,000 retirement pensioners then receiving weekly National Assistance grants were householders with outgoings for rent, rates, etc.; that in these cases the rent and rates as defined in the Board's annual reports averaged 18s. 9d. a week; and that it was provided for in full in the assessment in all but 4,500 cases. It is not possible to say how much of the assistance granted is attributable to rent as the grant paid, after taking all the needs and resources of the applicant into account, is often less than the rent.
§ Mr. LiptonDoes not that mean that many hundreds of thousands of £s a week are being distributed by the Assistance Board in the form of rent supplementation?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterNo. It means that the poorest section of the population get help with their rents from the taxpayers.
§ Mr. ManuelThe Rent Act.