HC Deb 22 July 1936 vol 315 cc464-5W
Major OWEN

asked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that when a recipient of relief from a public assistance committee is granted assistance from the Prince of Wales's Fund the sum so received is taken into account by the committee as part of the income of the recipient, and that the amount of relief is thereby reduced by the amount of the grant received and the recipient of a grant in consideration of services rendered during the Great War is deprived of the benefit of such grant; and whether he will take steps to empower public assistance committees to ignore the amounts of such grants in calculating the total income?

Mr. SHAKESPEARE

The payments referred to are not among those which local authorities are authorised by Statute to ignore in considering applications for relief. My right hon. Friend has no authority to adopt the suggestion contained in the second part of the question; but in so far as these grants are made to meet a special need, an authority can properly take into account such a need in determining the amount of relief to be given.