RATE REBATE BILL (Hansard, 8 May 1973)

§ BARONESS MASHAM OF ILTON
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. This Bill was introduced in another place on February 6, 1973, by the honourable Member for Derby, North, Mr. Phillip Whitehead. It had all-Party support. The Rate Rebate Bill is a short Bill, and therefore I do not want to spend much of your Lordiships' valuable time at this late hour: and it would not be fair to the badgers, of which I am very fond. Nevertheless, the Bill is important, as it is designed to eradicate an anomaly which now exists.
The Bill allows the disregarding for rate rebate purposes of a wide variety of 389 attendance allowances for the disabled. I can assure your Lordships that only the very severely disabled qualify for the attendance allowance. Every disabled person, whoever he or she may be, has many extra expenses, and life in general is always harder. Central Government are giving the most severely disabled people the attendance allowance to provide much needed help in the home, and local government are taking some of the desperately needed money away because the law, as it stands, says that they must. Attendance allowances payable under the scheme introduced in December, 1971, are regarded as income for rate rebate purposes. Rate rebates are payable as of right to ratepayers in England, Wales and Scotland, provided the gross incomes do not exceed certain prescribed limits. If this Bill becomes an Act, it will exclude payments of attendance allowances from calculations of gross income when assessing eligibility for rate rebates under the General Rate Act 1967, and, as regards Scotland, the Rating Act 1966.
My Lords, certain Amendments were made to the Bill during its passage in another place. The Bill did not include ratepayers in Scotland, which it now does. Being a Scot, I welcome this, and I am sure the noble Lord, Lord Mowbray and Stourton, who lives in Scotland, will also agree that Scotland could not be left out. The Bill originally covered only attendance allowances payable since 1971. Clause 1 has now been amended to cover, for example, those war pensioners and industrial injury pensioners who receive constant attendance allowances. The Bill's treatment of attendance allowances for rate rebate purposes is now in line with their treatment for the purposes of rent rebate and allowances under the Housing Finance Act 1972. Benefit under the Bill would have been available from the date of Royal Assent. Under the terms of Clause 2, introduced as a new clause during the Committee stage in another place, attendance allowance will be disregarded for rate rebate purposes from the beginning of any rebate period starting on or after April 1, 1973, or May 16, 1973, in the case of Scotland.
Although the total number of persons receiving attendance allowances is known, the number of those people who are ratepayers and who may benefit under the Bill is not known. This will be one 390 more way of finding out some more information about the disabled in this country, which is proving to be a difficult task for local authorities. Seventy-five per cent. of the total cost will be met from national taxation, and the balance will be provided by the general body of ratepayers. I hope your Lordships will welcome this Bill, which is only a very minor concession so far as disabled people are concerned, but nevertheless very vital and welcome to some: it tidies up a nagging legal irregularity and therefore I commend it to your Lordships.

§ LORD GARNSWORTHY
My Lords, the House will be very appreciative of the action of the noble Baroness, Lady Masham of Ilton, in sponsoring this Bill, and particularly so for the extremely understanding manner in which she has moved its Second Reading. From this side of the House, I should like to give it the warmest of welcomes. It is, as the noble Baroness has said, a measure which was introduced in the other place by my honourable friend Mr. Phillip Whitehead, the Member for Derby, North, and was supported by Members on both sides in that House. So in no sense can it be regarded as a Party measure, and one hopes that it will enjoy the same range of support in this House as it had in the other place.
We all rejoiced when the principle of constant attendance allowances was agreed upon to assist those for whom my honourable friend Mr. Alfred Morris fought for so long and so successfully. The Act which resulted from his efforts and the efforts of so many of us who were alerted to the needs of the disabled who depend on the constant attendance and attention of others, was a milestone in the progress we are making towards a truly neighbourhood society. We appreciate the improvements that have subsequently been effected to that Act; but all of us will be aware that those allowances are not too easy to obtain and we shall not feel that at any point are they over-generous. When these constant attendance allowances are given in circumstances where the income is so low that there is entitlement to rate rebate, we can surely be satisfied that 391 there is a pretty constant threat of hardship: at least we know that in those homes there will never be too much.
It seems that taking into consideration these constant attendance allowances in assessing entitlement to rate rebates goes a long way, as the noble Baroness has indicated, to defeat the very purpose for which the allowances were introduced. I am told that the recipient may lose as much as £35 to £40 of the £200 attendance allowance which may be given. This is the sort of thing we seldom, if ever, take into account when we consider original legislation and scales of benefit, and so we find presently that the value of what we have sought to do has been eroded.
It may be argued that there are many other allowances which may be disregarded in computing entitlement to rate rebates. My Lords, I would not question that. From that it may be stated that if this Bill becomes an Act it could create in some people's minds an anomalous situation. If that is so, I think it ought to be said on the other side that there are many of us who feel that this Bill goes a very long way to clear up what seems to us to be in itself an anomalous situation. If there is need to look at other allowances in the same sort of way in which we look at these. I feel that the very promotion of this Bill has given us the opportunity of giving some thought to an extension of what the Bill aims to do for other people who are in dire need. In the meantime, these particular allowances, being so very special, not easy to get, not over-generous and given only where need (and "need" spelt in capital letters at that) is proved, ought to be excluded from calculations of gross incomes in assessing the entitlement to rate rebates. On this side, we shall do everything we can to expedite the passing of this measure.

§ LORD MOWBRAY AND STOURTON
My Lords, I wish on behalf of the Government to welcome this Bill whose Second Reading has just been moved by my noble friend Lady Masham. Government support has already been signified in another place in the Money Resolution in the name of my honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
392 I should like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Garnsworthy, whose interest in this subject is very well known, for his welcome to this measure. It is a small but very worthwhile measure, which I should like to commend to your Lordships. Rate rebates are payable as of right to ratepayers in England, Wales and Scotland, provided their gross incomes do not exceed certain prescribed limits. I would thank my noble friend Lady Masham for her reference to Scotland and to myself. I believe the other place did a great deal to bring this measure within that scope. I see the noble Lord, Lord Hughes, nodding agreement.
Under the present arrangements, attendance allowances which are paid to the most severely disabled members of our society count as income for rate rebate purposes. This has meant that some ratepayers receiving attendance allowance under the scheme introduced in December, 1971, by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services have lost or had reduced their entitlement to rate rebate. The purpose of the Bill, as my noble friend has just explained, is to disregard attendance allowances as income for rate rebate purposes.
It is difficult to estimate the number of ratepayers who will benefit under this Bill. Although we know the total number of persons receiving attendance allowances, we do not know how many of those people are ratepayers and who therefore will benefit. However, we estimate—and I would emphasise that this is only an estimate—that some 6,500 people will benefit and that the total cost of the relief granted could be of the order of £170,000 in the financial year 1973/74. Seventy-five per cent. of the total cost (some £130,000) will be met from national taxation and the balance of about £40,000 will be borne by the general body of ratepayers.
The noble Lord, Lord Garnsworthy, referred in very light vein to anomalous situations and to certain other allowances which he personally would like to see made. As a war pensioner myself, and knowing many people who have suffered much more grievously than I and who have war pensions, I know what the noble Lord was referring to. I realise that these pensions at present count as income for rate rebate purposes. We 393 have introduced a Green Paper on Local Government Finance (Cmnd. No. 4741) which discusses the possibility of a new rate rebate scheme which would exclude as income the first £2 per week of disablement pension and payments of the kind I have just mentioned.
The Government's proposals for the reform of local government finance, including the introduction of a new rent rebate scheme, will be announced in due course. Your Lordships will not, I am sure, expect me to say more to-night. I should like to assure your Lordships that the Government have very much in mind the treatment of war pensioners which the noble Lord, Lord Garnsworthy, hinted at in connection with rate rebates. If, as the Government hope, this Bill receives the Royal Assent, steps will be taken to publicise its benefits. Indeed, the Department has already written to rating authorities drawing their attention to the terms of the Bill at present before your Lordships' House. I commend the Bill to your Lordships.

§ BARONESS MASHAM OF ILTON
My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lords, Lord Garnsworthy and Lord Mowbray and Stourton, for their support. All those who have taken an interest, and will take an interest, in this Bill will be very pleased to have the support of the Government and the Opposition. I am also pleased to hear that the Government will give the Bill as much publicity as possible. It is often those who most need support and help financially who are least likely to come forward and ask for it. Therefore publicity is needed in this respect. I should again like to thank both noble Lords for their support.