§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what controls exist for the collection of the attendance allowance given to disabled people living in private hostels.
§ Mr. RossiA disabled person who is unable to cash his attendance allowance order book can arrange for someone else to do so. If a disabled person is unable to manage his own affairs, the Secretary of State can appoint another person to act on behalf of the disabled person and this would include cashing the order book. There are no special rules for disabled people living in private hostels. There are well defined rules to ensure that a post office pays benefit to the person authorised to collect the benefit.
If the hon. Member has a particular case in mind, I would be glad to have details.