§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the operation of the social fund.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe discretionary part of the social fund has been operating for over seven months and some patterns and trends have emerged.
Applications for social fund loans have been increasing steadily and by the end of October loan payments totalling £5.857 million had been made. The majority of loan applications have resulted in awards and a minority have been turned down on grounds of low priority.
The take-up of community care grants has been lower than expected and the end of October grants amounting to £1.198 million had been paid. Some measures to increase take-up have already been implemented, the demand for grants is gradually increasing, and we are considering possible further steps to increase awareness of the availability of grants amongst those people for whom they are intended.
The review system is operating satisfactorily. About 23 per cent. of people refused a payment have asked for a 555W review of the decision at the social security office. In just under a quarter of the cases reviewed the original decision has been changed. By the end of October some 109 people had exercised their right to ask for a further review by the social fund inspector. In 67 out of 99 cases decided, the original decision was confirmed by the inspector.