§ Mr. Charles Irvingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he can make an announcement about the closure of the Thames North and Thames South special lodging house supplementary benefits offices and their replacement by improved services to deal with social security claims from homeless claimants and other people in urgent need at all local supplementary benefits offices.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe arrangements for dealing with single unemployed claimants living in hostels and lodging houses in322W the territory covered by Thames North and Thames South local offices—and Glasgow—Cranstonhill—which has the same function—have a number of advantages namely that the greater continuity of contact between offices and claimants gives more opportunity for problems to be identified and solved, and greater control of the fraud and abuse which occurs in a proportion of those claims. Claimants at other local offices have also been upset by the appearance and habits of men living in hostels and lodging houses. One of the disadvantages argued is that these men are separated from other supplementary benefit claimants and this can adversely affect their return to society.
I have no current plans for disturbing the present arrangements but the services provided for people without a settled way of living are being studied as part of the second stage of the supplementary benefits review.