§ Mrs. Lena Jegerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he will amend Regulation 5 of the Supplementary Benefit (General) Regulations 1966 so that beneficiaries entitled to increases of 2s. or less are no longer denied such increases, especially in cases where the increased entitlement arises from increases in rent or rates.
§ Mr. EnnalsWe have no plans to amend the regulation to which my hon. Friend refers. Its object is to give beneficiaries a stable rate of benefit during the currency of an order-book, unaffected by relatively small changes in their circumstances, and to avoid the need for the recall and alteration of order-books to take account of these small amounts. The regulation operates in respect of downward changes as well as upward.