§ 68. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance with which countries the United Kingdom has established reciprocal arrangements in regard to the payment of family allowances; and what efforts are being made to extend this list.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterOur reciprocal arrangements with the Isle of Man. Jersey, Guernsey, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Yugoslavia all make provision in respect of family allowances. Our agreements with Cyprus, Malta, Israel, Switzerland and Turkey do not cover family allowances; these countries have not yet established general schemes of family allowances. There are no reciprocal provisions on family allowances in our agreements with the Irish Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden. Families going to those countries from the United Kingdom or coming from those countries to the United Kingdom can however generally qualify for family allowances by virtue of one of the European Interim Agreements on Social Security which the United Kingdom and those countries have all ratified. I am always glad to 11W take any opportunity there is of extending these useful and sensible arrangements.
§ 69. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the reasons for his policy of not extending the period of payment of family allowances to those citizens temporarily absent on work abroad but continuing to pay United Kingdom insurance contributions and Income Tax.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe object of the Family Allowances scheme is to provide for families in this country as part of the social services of this country, and the view has always been taken that to pay allowances in respect of absences exceeding six months would be inconsistent with this object. There is, in any case, no connection between family allowances and insurance contributions which, if paid at all, are paid for quite different purposes. Liability for Income Tax may depend on such factors as the amount of the income and its source, which again, have no relevance to family allowances.