HC Deb 31 January 1977 vol 925 cc33-4W
Mr. Scott

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will abolish or modify the earnings stop for disabled people, so as to encourage those who are able to do so to take employment.

Mr. Alfred Morris

While the answer must be "No", I think there may be some misunderstanding here. Sickness benefit and invalidity benefit are payable only to people who are incapable of work. This means that they must, in the shorter term, be incapable of doing their normal job and, in the longer term, be incapable of doing any job for which an employer would pay them and which they could reasonably be expected to do. Those who have satisfied the statutory authorities that they are incapable of work in this sense may be able to receive their benefit even though they do a small amount of therapeutic work from which earnings are ordinarily not more than £9 a week net of working expenses. Given the underlying incapacity condition, a much higher figure would not necessarily extend work possibilities; it would, where it had any effect, allow benefit plus earnings to be substantially in excess of rehabilitation and training allowances, earnings in sheltered employment, and even full-time earnings in some open employment.

Mr. Scott

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will introduced a tax-free disablement pension assessed according to the degree of disability.

Mr. Alfred Morris

We are unlikely, in the near future, to have available resources over and above those required by the introduction of new benefits and our commitment to the improvement of existing benefits. The new benefits are noncontributory invalidity pension, the mobility allowance, the invalid care allowance and the non-contributory invalidity pension for married women incapable of doing their housework. These will provide 250,000 new non-means-tested benefits where previously there was either no provision or only means-tested provision. In addition, we shall be introducing earnings-related invalidity pension as part of the new pension scheme.