§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will review, with a view to amending legislation, the assumption that if a person claiming supplementary benefit has capital of £2,000 he can obtain from it an income of £7 a week.
§ Sir K. JosephNo. The treatment of capital under the Ministry of Social Security Act does not rest on the assumption that any particular income can be140W obtained from it. The notional income taken into account from sums over £800 is set at a higher level than the capital would normally earn on the principle that capital over that amount should, if necessary, be drawn upon to some extent for living expenses before supplementary benefit becomes payable.