§ 10. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will take steps to extend the provisions of the National Insurance and Family Allowances Acts to allow benefit to be paid to children who are completely disabled and who continue to be dependent on their parents beyond the age of 18 years.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterNo, Sir. Extensions of the age limits for allowances for children under these schemes were made by amending legislation in 1956 and last year, and I have no proposals for a further extension. Young people above the age of 16 are, of course, eligible to apply for National Assistance in their own right.
§ Mr. ThomsonDoes not the right hon. Gentleman have on his files a number of cases of very real hardship where people in these circumstances are chronic invalids, imbeciles and so on? Will he look at this matter again and make his regulations more humane than they are at the moment?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI think that they are humane, and I do not think that we should make them more humane by pretending that somebody is a child if he is not