§ Mr. Cledwyn Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the percentage of the successful applicants for attendance allowances out of the total number of applicants up to the latest convenient date.
§ Sir K. JosephUp to 14th December, 67 per cent. of the 74,000 claims to attendance allowance which had been dealt with were successful, including those which succeeded on review. Some 40,000 claims remain to be dealt with and the success rate may change.
§ Mr. Cledwyn Hughesasked the Secre-of State for Social Services whether, in view of the number of applications by disabled persons for attendance allowances which are being rejected by the Attendance Allowance Board, he will set out the medical requirements relating to the need for attendance.
§ Sir K. JosephThe medical requirements relating to the need for attendance are set out in Section 4(2) of the National Insurance (Old Persons' and Widows' Pensions and Attendance Allowance) Act, 1970, namely that a person shall be entitled to the allowance if either
- (a) he is so severely disabled physically or mentally that he requires from another person, in connection with his bodily functions, frequent attention throughout the day and prolonged or repeated attention during the night; or
384 - (b) he is so severely disabled physically or mentally that he requires continual supervision from another person in order to avoid substantial danger to himself or others.
For children, each of the conditions is modified by Regulation 7(4) of the National Insurance (Attendance Allowance) Regulations 1971 (Statutory Instrument 1971 No. 621) which adds the words
and requires attention and supervision substantially in excess of that required by a child of the same age and sex".Section 4(3) of the Act provides that one or other of the conditions must be satisfied for at least six months before the starting date for paying the allowance.