§ Mr. Hannamasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that the yardstick for means-testing applicants for assistance with travel-to-work costs is sufficiently responsive to inflation; if he will link it to the cost of living index; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the yardstick for determining allowances payable under the fares-to-work Scheme is responsive to the effects of inflation.
As I explained in my reply to the hon. Member on the 21st December 1976 —[Vol. 923, c. 167–8] a notional subsistence level is used to calculate the amount of the grant. This is derived from the allowances payable to trainees under the training opportunities scheme, which indirectly take into account cost of living increases and are revised at regular intervals. In addition, individual cases are reassessed immediately any change in income or travelling costs occur.
I shall make available to the hon. Member a leaflet that sets out, in detail, the way in which a grant is currently calculated, but as I told the hon. Member on 21st December the fares-to-work scheme is at present under review.