HC Deb 21 June 1965 vol 714 cc145-6W
56. Dame Irene Ward

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance, in view of the decision of the National Assistance Board on the case of Mrs. Owens, what steps she proposes to take to ensure that those earning below the National Assistance Board scale, such as married apprentices with families, are entitled to obtain assistance to enable their families to receive the minimum standard of existence laid down by the Board.

Miss Herbison

The case of Mrs. Owens is not comparable with that of the married apprentice in that she is not required to register for work and her National Assistance allowance is supplementing part-time earnings. The payment of National Assistance to people in full-time employment would raise a far-reaching issue of principle.

Mr. Randall

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many persons were in receipt of National Assistance at Gateshead at the latest con? venient date and at the corresponding dates for 1962, 1963, and 1964, respectively.

Mr. Pentland

The County Borough of Gateshead is served by two offices of the National Assistance Board, which between them also serve a considerable area outside the County Borough including the Urban Districts of Felling and Washington. The number of weekly National Assistance grants current in these two offices at the end of May, 1965, was 9,906. The corresponding figures for the earlier years were as follows:

May, 1962 … … … 9,328
May, 1963 … … … 10,085
May, 1964 … … … 10,181

Some of the allowances included the needs of more than one person.