§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what instructions have been given to officials on the procedure for handling claims for supplementary benefit from students during the last Christmas vacation.
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§ Mr. DeakinsStanding instructions held by local offices cover the assessment of student claims during vacations, including treatment of the vacation element of any grant he receives. As my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Education and Science said in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport, North (Mr. Bennett) on 23rd February 1976—[Vol. 906, c.41]—student support arrangements were changed from the 1976–77 academic year so that the student's personal maintenance award applied solely to term-time attendance and the winter and spring vacations. The result of these changes is that the grant provides the equivalent of at least the supplementary benefit entitlement of the single non-householder for the short vacations, and consequently it is no longer necessary or appropriate for the majority of students to claim supplementary benefit then.
No instructions have been issued specifically for the last Christmas vacation, but operational guidance was given on ways of handling claims, since this was the first occasion on which the new principles applied. This guidance made it clear to staff that they should not refuse claims, but that single students with full awards, living as members of their parents or some one else's household, and without special needs, should be discouraged from putting in a formal claim. The object was to avoid unnecessary work on claims from those students who clearly would not qualify for a payment—with consequent delay in meeting the needs of other claimants.