§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report an outline of the procedures, set out in a letter to the right hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South, to be followed where supplementary benefit is claimed by a person who has received a vaccine damage payment.
§ Mr. NewtonWhere a claim for supplementary benefit is made on behalf of a person for whom a vaccine damage payment is held on trust, the trustees are asked if they intend to invest the award and for details of the investment(s); if there are any major items of expenditure for which any part of the award is earmarked; and if they have any other proposals for the award. The case is then submitted to the office of the chief supplementary benefit officer for consideration and advice.
The purpose of this procedure is to determine whether, in accordance with regulation 4(7) of the Supplementary Benefit (Resources) Regulations, all or part of the vaccine damage payment falls to be disregarded in the vaccine damaged person's supplementary benefit assessment
for the period, not normally exceeding 12 months … for which, having regard to the intentions of the trustees, it is reasonable that he shall not be treated as possessing [it]".A temporary disregard under this provision is normally allowed where the trustees intend to use the vaccine damage payment to meet some major expense, such as the purchase of a car or the adaptation of a house for the disabled person's benefit.