HL Deb 03 March 1982 vol 427 cc1282-4

2.52 p.m.

Baroness Lane-Fox

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received complaints about the injustice of the "normal household duties" test used to establish eligibility for the award of the housewife's non-contributory invalidity pension.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Elton)

Yes, my Lords. The Government have received representations about the test, both from groups and from individuals. Most of them have asked that the test be either modified or abolished.

Baroness Lane-Fox

My Lords, in thanking my noble friend the Minister for his reply, may I ask him whether he is aware that the Disablement Income Group and the Equal Opportunities Commission are campaigning against the test as being unfair, discriminatory and humiliating? Is he further aware that well over 40 per cent. of the decisions arrived at through the test are, as I am told, reversed on appeal?

Lord Elton

My Lords, as to the first part of my noble friend's question, my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security met the Equal Opportunities Commission last month and therefore we are very much aware both of their views and of the wider dissatisfaction with the test. As to the success rate, it might be useful if I were to say that in 1980, which is the latest year for which I have figures, there were 13,689 applications, of which 51 per cent. succeeded in the first instance; 14 per cent. appeals; and only 6 per cent. successful appeals. So, 57 per cent. of the original applications were granted, of which only 6 per cent. arose from appeals.

Baroness Lockwood

My Lords, does the noble Lord the Minister not agree that, in the light of the current figures on married women's economic activity rates, which show that 62 per cent. of all married women between the ages of 16 and 60 are economically active, the household duties test for married women alone for the award of a non-contributory penion is totally outdated and a matter of absolute sex discrimination? Can he tell me when the Government propose to act in this matter?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the Government are holding this under review, but I should point out that to abolish the test would cost £250 million a year.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that, because so many of the original decisions against eligibility have been reversed, as my noble friend has said, confidence has been severely shaken in both the criteria and the system? Will the Government act upon the judgment of the advisory committee, who are understood to have advocated that the test be changed or abolished?

Lord Elton

My Lords, I have said that we have this under review. On the question of the number of reversals, I must reiterate that there were only 820 successful appeals out of original applications for benefit numbering 13,689.

Lord Leatherland

My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord the Minister a question about "normal household duties", which appears on the Order Paper? If a husband washed up the tea things at weekends, is that likely to disqualify his wife from her pension?

Lord Elton

My Lords, I am not aware of the noble Lord's personal situation, but I would advise him not to abandon washing up on that slender ground.

Lord Avebury

My Lords, would the Minister care to think again about the statistics which he has given the House on the question of the percentage of appeals? Did he not say that 51 per cent. of the applicants were successful in their first approach; that of the remaining 49 per cent., only 14 per cent. actually went to appeal; and that of those, 6 per cent. were actually successful? This means that of those who appealed, 43 per cent. were successful. Probably the inference is that if many of the others who abandoned their attempt to secure justice— some 48 per cent. of them—had gone to appeal, they too would have had their rights looked after by the appeal machinery.

Lord Elton

My Lords, I cannot hazard a guess as to what would be the result of appeals which are not made. I would assume that those who appealed were those who thought themselves must likely to succeed on appeal. I can confirm that the percentage I gave in each instance was a percentage of the total number of applications at the start.

Baroness Lane-Fox

My Lords, while being grateful to my noble friend the Minister for telling us that the whole situation is under review, I hope he realises that what really irks many of us is that no male and no spinster is required to take any test to qualify for a non-contributory pension. While disabled housewives must continue to go in for this "normal household duties" test—and, furthermore, they must fail the test to establish their eligibility for pension—we must feel that this is unfair.

Lord Elton

My Lords, I think that the best answer to that is to say that I take note of my noble friend's concern.

Lord Milverton

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister not agree that it is unfair? Can he not give some assurance that this test can be stopped as soon as possible because, so far as I can gather, it puts the people who have to apply in a very awkward situation?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the particular point that I acknowledge from my noble friend's question is that it originates from a male Member of this House.