§ Dr. Stuttafordasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what categories of people are entitled to remission or refund of optical charges under the new arrangements, how many people he estimates to be in each category.
§ Sir K. JosephExemption may be claimed by over 14 million children in Great Britain who are under 16 years of age or above that age and attending school full time. Those who have children's standard glasses pay no charge for lenses or frames; children over 10 who choose to have adult frames have to pay for the frames but get the lenses free. About four million recipients of supplementary benefit (including their dependants, some of whom will be children eligible for the exemptions just referred to) are automatically eligible for help with the charges they incur.
In addition people with a family income less than £1.50 a week above the ordinary supplementary benefit level qualify for full remisison of charges even if they are in work. In practice people receiving help on income grounds do not have to claim refunds since arrangements are normally made for opticians to be paid direct by the local Social Security office.