§ Mr. DunnachieTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the simple scaling used to uprate supplementary benefit as outlined in paragraph 2(ii) on page one of the document "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits".
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 17 February 1988]: Supplementary benefit rates were updated to April 1988 by the movement in the retail prices index, excluding housing costs, from September 1986 to September 1987. Payments for additional requirements were uprated by the rise in the general retail prices index over the same period.
§ Mr. DunnachieTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the reason for the change in layout, structure and composition of the tables in the technical annex to the White Paper, entitled "The Reform of Social Security", as compared with the document entitled "Impact of the Reformed Structure of Income Related Benefits"; and what are the differences in the methodology used in each case.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 17 February 1988]: There are no major changes in layout, structure and composition apart from the omission of tables 1 to 9. These tables are no longer relevant because a decision was taken that all ratepayers receiving income support or housing benefit should pay a minimum of 20 per cent. of their domestic rates bill. The tables are simply updated and revised versions of tables 10 to 17 published in the technical annex to the White Paper "Reform of Social Security" (Cmnd. 9691).