§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if it is intended to include redundancy payments for the purposes of calculating capital resources when determining claims for supplementary benefits.
§ Mrs. ChalkerYes.
§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what will be the effect of the Supplementary Benefit (Resources) Regulations 1980 in the case of a person receiving a redundancy payment in excess of £2,000 in September 1980 and disposing of all but £2,000 of that payment by the time he falls due to claim supplementary benefit.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerThe Supplementary Benefit (Resources) Regulations 1980 provide that capital resources of £2,000 or less shall be disregarded, and that where they exceed £2,000 the claimant shall not be entitled to supplementary benefit. Regulation 4(1) provides that any resource of which a person has deprived himself solely for the pupose of securing benefit may be treated as if it were still possessed by him.
The question of entitlement to supplementary benefit in an individual case is for the independent adjudicating authorities (the benefit officer in the first instance) who will give a decision having regard to all the facts of that particular case, in the light of the regulations and case law decided by the social security commissioner as it evolves.