§ Mr. Dewarasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost of introducing an allowance as of right for all registered blind persons of £7 per week; and what would be the net cost allowing for the effects of taxation at current rates.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisI have been asked to reply.
The scope of a social security benefit, and thus its cost, depends on many factors. These include age limits; the interaction with other social security benefits; and the relationship with other benefits, allowances and services. About 125,000 people are currently registered as blind in the United Kingdom. The gross cost of paying all of them £7 a week would be around £45 million a year. It must, however, be kept in mind that many more people could be registered as blind than are at present registered. The gross cost of the proposal would, of course, increase if registration went up as a result of the 805W introduction of a blindness allowance. Many factors affect the yield of tax on a particular source of income, and it would be inappropriate to attempt to estimate the tax yield on the benefit contemplated by my hon. Friend.