§ 36. Mr. Deanasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many discretionary additions to the 673 weekly National Assistance allowances were being paid at the end of 1965; what was the average amount of these additions; what percentage of those getting regular weekly allowances were also qualifying for a discretionary addition; and what were the corresponding figures for the end of 1964.
§ Mr. PentlandIt is regretted that the information asked for is not yet available for the end of 1965. At the end of 1964 discretionary additions were being made in about 1,095,000 weekly allowances out of a total of 1,961,000 allowances then in payment. The average amount of the additions in the cases in which they were made was 9s. 6d. per week and the percentage of those getting regular weekly allowances who received discretionary additions was 55.9.
§ Mr. DeanI thank the hon. Gentleman for that information, but has he sufficient up-to-date information to show that the valuable discretion which the Board has to give additional payments for special needs has not been devalued by the welcome increase in the basic National Assistance scales?
§ Mr. PentlandI have not got the information yet. Obviously we cannot get that information until the 1965 figures for discretionary additions are available. They are expected to be available in about a week.
§ Mr. WoodHas the hon. Gentleman a reasonable belief that the number of weekly allowances has increased or decreased over the past year?
§ Mr. PentlandAgain, it is impossible to tell until we receive the 1965 figures.