HC Deb 27 November 1975 vol 901 cc278-9W
Mr. McCartney

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) why it was decided to tax the mobility allowance;

(2) what is her estimate of the effect on the rate of the mobility allowance of the decision to tax the allowance.

Mr. Alfred Morris

By taxing the new benefit we ensure that it will be of most value to those with the lowest incomes. The effect on a particular beneficiary will, of course, depend on his or her individual income and personal circumstances.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will restore future entitlement to mobility assistance to disabled persons who would have been eligible for assistance under the existing arrangements where needing mobility for employment or carrying out household duties.

Mr. Alfred Morris

The qualifying conditions for mobility allowance, as laid down in the Social Security Pensions Act 1975, relate to inability or virtual inability to walk which is likely to persist for at least 12 months. In a scheme giving statutory entitlement to cash benefits, with appeal rights, it seems better to rest on straightforward criteria of this sort than to import tests, operated only with difficulty even in a discretionary scheme, which turn on the particular household or employment circumstances of the individual claimant.

As regards alternative help with travel-to-work costs, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State for Employment gave to the hon. Member for Exeter (Mr. Hannam) on 25th November.—[Vol. 901, c. 137.]