§ Mr. Jegerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many National Assistance recipients suffered a reduction in supplementary grants when their retirement pensions were increased in April.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAbout 1,079,000.
§ Mr. JegerIs that not really disgraceful? Will the Minister look at this question again in conjunction with the National Assistance scales? Is he not aware that many old-age pensioners, amounting, as he himself said, to more than 1 million, expected from the Government's propaganda and information that they would receive a 7s. 6d. or 12s. 6d. a week increase? They now discover that they receive anything from 6d. to 3s. 6d. per week. Since this hits hardest the poorest section of the community, will not the right hon. Gentleman immediately take steps to increase the scale rates under which they are allowed National Assistance?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe hon. Member will be aware that the procedure follows that taken on previous occasions, except that by ensuring that assistance scales were increased simultaneously with National Insurance scales it has been possible to secure that all supplemented persons, if their circumstances remained the same, received an increase in their total income from the two sources. The hon. Member will also be 881 aware that, comparing the situation with what it was in 1958, when the last general change of both benefits took place, the total increase in income is greater and a little higher for the supplemented than for the non-supplemented cases. Finally, the hon. Member's supplementary question is quite out of line with the complaint perpetually made from the benches opposite about the proportion of persons receiving supplementation.