§ 2.35 p.m.
§ LORD WALSTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether consideration has been given to the granting of extra benefit both to old-age pensioners and also to the unemployed, to help meet the extra cost imposed upon these households by the recent severe weather.]
THE MINISTER OF STATE, COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS OFFICE (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)My Lords, rates of National Insurance benefit cannot, of course, be varied to meet individual needs, but it is open to any retirement pensioner or unemployed person to apply to the National Assistance Board for a supplement to his pension or benefit if he is in financial difficulty. If the noble Lord has in mind those who are already receiving assistance supplements, the scales of assistance on which these supplements are based include provision for normal fuel requirements. However, I understand from the Board that additional fuel allowances are already being provided in over 400,000 cases to meet special needs, and this no doubt will go some way to meet recent difficulties. Apart from this, the Board has asked its local officers to be especially alert to recognise cases of hardship arising from the recent spell of severe weather, whether caused by the need for extra fuel or otherwise.
§ LORD WALSTONMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Duke for his answer and for the information concerning the instructions for sympathetic treatment to some of these people. But is the noble Duke aware that in the past two months 1154 a good many of the basic necessities—for people living on the lowest incomes such as potatoes, carrots and cabbages—have more than doubled in price, and that even 1 cwt. of fuel—which in this weather does not go very far—costs approximately 12s. 6d.? Would he not agree that the hardship imposed upon an old age pensioner with £2 17s. 6d., or even on a man out of work, married, with two children, and drawing just over £6, is very real and would warrant most sympathetic consideration by the Government?
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIREMy Lords, I most certainly accept all the noble Lord has to say, and I would repeat the last sentence of my Answer:
Apart from this, the Board has asked its local officers to be especially alert to recognise cases of hardship arising from the recent spell of severe weather, whether caused by the need for extra fuel or otherwise.