§ 39. Mr. Boscawenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has received on the payment of family allowances.
§ Sir K. JosephEach year my Department receives some hundreds of representations on different aspects of the family allowances scheme. In addition a large proportion of the letters received in connection with the proposed tax-credit scheme have asked for an assurance that the replacement of family allowances by child credits would not deprive mothers of an existing source of income.
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§ 65. Mr. Boothasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will raise the £2 limit on the amount which a widow's dependent child may earn without reducing his mother's entitlement to widowed mother's allowance on supplementary benefit.
§ Mr. DeanThe amount of earnings that can be ignored for supplementary benefit purposes is £1 a week for children under 16 and £2 for children over 16. I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Conway (Mr. Wyn Roberts) on 14th November last.—[Vol. 846, c.55–6.]
§ 66. Sir F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many individuals there are resident in Torbay receiving supplementary benefit, in addition to their basic State retirement pension or other old-age pension.
§ Mr. DeanAt November last 9,065 retirement, old persons and widow pensioners were receiving a supplementary pension from the Torbay office of my Department.
§ Mr. Milneasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will introduce legislation to secure that industrial injury benefits are payable to workpeople at the pre-symptomatic stages of prescribed diseases.
§ Mr. DeanNo. The purpose of the industrial injuries scheme is to provide benefits for incapacity, disablement and death resulting from industrial accidents or prescribed industrial diseases.
§ Dr. Dickson Mahonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons in receipt of supplementary benefit were in receipt of a reduced benefit through the working of the wage stop in Greenock and Port Glasgow at the latest available date and in 1972, 1971 and 1970.
§ Mr. DeanFollowing is the available information:
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NUMBERS OF PERSONS RECEIVING SUPPLEMENTARY ALLOWANCES SUBJECT TO WAGE-STOP ON A DAY IN NOVEMBER 1972 1971 1970 Greenock 43 59 135 Port Glasgow 35 41 101
§ Dr. Dickson Mahonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claimants had a telephone installed and their telephone bill paid for them by the Supplementary Benefits Commission during each of the last three years in Scotland and in the burghs of Greenock and Port Glasgow respectively.
§ Mr. DeanThe commission does not pay telephone bills as such but in exceptional cases, where a telephone would be the sole means of communication in an emergency, includes the cost of telephone rental in assessing the requirements of the person concerned. Help of this kind and/or with the cost of installation was given in four, four and two cases respectively in Scotland in the years ending August 1970, 1971 and 1972. None of the cases related to people living in the burghs of Greenock and Port Glasgow.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is aware that since 16th June 1970 until 16th January 1973 the General Index of Retail Prices rose by 22.4 per cent. and the increase in earnings was 34 per cent.; to what extent the retirement pension and social security benefits rose on a percentage basis during this period; and to what extent there was a shortfall below 34 per cent. for each stated category of welfare benefit.
§ Sir K. JosephFollowing is the information:
Benefit (Standard Rate for Single Person) Percentage Increase between 16.6.70 and 16.1.73 Retirement pension—under 80 35.0 Retirement pension—over 80 40.0 Sickness benefit and unemployment benefit 35.0 Industrial injury benefit 22.6 Supplementary benefit scale rate 36.5 100 per cent. War or Industrial Injuries Disablement pension 33.3