§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate (a) the cost to social services departments of collecting charges for home helps for those receiving (i) supplementary benefit and (ii) family income supplement in 1983, (b) the total amount collected from such recipients for home help services in 1982 and how much is likely to be collected in 1983, (c) what percentage (b) is of the total collected from all recipients of home helps and what the percentage is likely to be for 1983, and (d) if he will take steps to exempt those on supplementary benefit and family income supplement from such charges.
271W
§ Mr. John PattenNo information is available on the cost to social services departments of collecting charges for the home help service they provide to those in receipt of supplementary benefit or family income supplement.
The only information on the amount likely to have been collected in 1982–83 for home help from such recipients is that derived from surveys undertaken by the local authority associations in January this year which indicated that this might amount to about £7.2 million in England and Wales. This represents 43.4 per cent. of all income from charges for home help services in 1981–82. No information is yet available on total income from charges for home help in 1982–83 or estimates for 1983–84.
We do not consider that it would be suitable to introduce a statutory exemption from charges for home help for those in receipt of supplementary benefit and family income supplement, as this was likely to result in a reduced service because of the sudden loss of revenue to authorities. Section 17 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 requires authorities to charge only the amount which they consider it reasonably practical for the recipient of a service to pay.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, for each year since 1979, how much was raised by all social services departments in England for domiciliary services to those household; on supplementary benefit and family income supplement; and what percentage of the local social services budget this represented in each year.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation available is derived from surveys of their member authorities undertaken by the Association of County Councils and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities in January this year. This indicated, on the basis of a response rate of about 75 per cent. of all authorities in England and Wales, that the amount received in 1982–83 from charges for home help and meals on wheels to those in receipt of supplementary benefit or family income supplement was likely to be about £14.9 million. This amount represents about 0.7 per cent. of the gross expenditure of all social service authorities in England and Wales in 1981–82. Gross expenditure figures for 1982–83 are not yet available.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance is given by his Department to local authorities concerning the levying of charges for social service provision from recipients of supplementary benefit and family income supplement.
§ Mr. John PattenCharges for local authority residential accommodations are for the main part governed by statute. So far as day and domiciliary services are concerned, we have made it clear that it is undesirable for people on low incomes to be charged for services they require but no written guidance has been published by the Department. I understand that, following enactment of section 17 of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983, the local authority associations are considering guidance for issue to their members on charging practice. So far as contributions in respect of children in care are concerned section 19 of the same Act provides for the exemption of persons in receipt of supplementary benefit or family income supplement.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to which social 272W services departments in England have, since 1979, instituted charges to families in receipt of (a) supplementary benefit and (b) family income supplement, using home help services, and as to which year the charges were first levied; and in each year since the introduction for each department (i) how much the weekly charge was, (ii) how many families were involved, (iii) what proportion of users of social services home helps this represented and (iv) what income is generated by the charges and what percentage of total money received from home help charges this represents.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation in the form requested is not available centrally. Surveys undertaken by the Association of Directors of Social Services indicate however that in 1980–81 three out of eighty three authorities who responded to their request for information instituted charges for home help services for the first time and in 1981–82 one out of seventy-nine responding authorities did so.
The publications "Personal Social Services Statistics" for 1979–80 and 1980–81 produced by the statistical information service of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, copies of which are in the Library of the House, indicate the income derived by individual authorities from charges for the home help services provided to all recipients for those years. The rates of weekly charge to those on supplementary benefit or family income supplement are known to vary widely between authorities from no charge, to minimum or flat rates of between 80p and £2 a week or rates of 16p to 20p per pound of assessed income.