§ Mr. HigginsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which social security benefits(a) are and (b) are not restricted because payment of a war disability pension is taken into account when assessing relevant income.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardWar disablement pensions are taken into account as income only in the income-related 53W benefits—income support, family credit and housing benefit—after £5 has been disregarded. This statutory disregard will be doubled to £10 from next April, a change which will also apply to community charge benefit.
Local authorities are responsible for administering housing benefit and community charge benefit. They have discretion to disregard more of war disablement pensions in calculating entitlement, but the cost of exercising this discretion has to be borne by the local authority itself.