§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is her estimate of the cost of raising the level of capital disregards for supplementary 100W benefit from the present levels of £300—where there are other sources of disregarded income—and £800—where there are no other disregards—to £1,500 and £2,000 respectively.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe cost of applying these figures in existing cases would be of the order of £3 million a year. The extra cost incurred through the attraction of additional claims cannot be accurately estimated but would probably be substantial.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether she will raise the level of capital resources which should be disregarded for the purpose of claiming supplementary benefit, in view of the fall in the real levels of the present disregarded limits since they were introduced in 1966.
§ Mr. O'MalleyIt is our intention to review the disregard of capital, together with the other disregards in the supplementary benefit scheme, as soon as financial and manpower considerations allow.