HC Deb 16 November 1977 vol 939 cc221-4W
Mr. Ralph Howell

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the current value of income disregards for all the main national insurance benefits and for supplementary benefit.

3. Mr. Orme

The information is as follows:

Supplementary Benefit.—The following amounts of weekly income are disregarded in the assessment of current claims to supplementary benefit:

Earnings

  1. (a) Lone parents £6.
  2. (b) Unemployed persons required to register for work £2.

include an element necessary to allow normal trade to take place, and as such cannot be construed as surpluses. Quotations are also given below for export prices for widely traded qualities of grains and sugar in the latest available month. Price quotations of this kind are not, however, available for skimmed milk powder or butter.

  1. (c) Others, including pensioners and wives of claimants £4.
  2. (d) Children's earnings are completely ignored.

Expenses in connection with earnings are allowed for in addition to the disregard.

Occupational Pensions and Weekly Redundancy Payments

£1.00 of the total of such payments.

Disablement Pensions and other income such as charitable payments (including the excess of War and Industrial Widows pensions on the standard rate of NI Widows Pension) £4.00 of the total of such payments.

The total disregard under items 2 and 3 above may not exceed £4.00.

There is no disregard of child benefit, family income supplement, the main national insurance benefits or maintenance payments—from separated husbands, etc. Mobility allowance and certain gallantry awards are completely disregarded. Attendance allowance is offset by a corresponding addition to the supplementary benefit and is therefore, in effect, disregarded.

National Insurance benefits. As such benefits are not means tested, entitlement to them is generally not affected by income from other sources. The amount

Benefit Weekly Earning Limit (after deduction of allowable expenses) £ Notes
Retirement pension—
claimant 40.00 Limit only applies to men aged under 70 and women aged under 65. 5p deduction from pension for every 10p earned between £40–£44; 10p deduction for every l0p earned above £44.
wife living with claimant 40.00 Increase for wife reduced as above if her earnings exceed the limit.
wife not living with claimant 10.50 Increase for dependent wife not payable if her earnings exceed the limit.
Sickness benefit; injury benefit—
claimant 10.00 Earnings allowable only if work is of therapeutic value.
wife 9.10 Increase in benefit for dependent wife not payable if her earnings exceed the limit.
Invalidity benefit—
claimant 10.00 Earnings allowable only if work is of therapeutic value.
wife living with claimant 40.00 Increase for wife reduced by 5p for every 10p of her earnings between £40–£44 and by 10p for every 10p of her earnings above £44.
wife not living with claiment 10.50 Increase for dependent wife not payable if her earnings exceed the limit.
Non-contributory invalidity pension—
claimant 10.00 Earnings allowable only if work is of therapeutic value.
wife living with claimant 40.00 Increase for wife reduced by 5p for every 10p of her earnings between £40–£44 and by 10p for every 10p of her earnings above £44.
wife not living with claiment 6.30 Increase for dependent wife not payable if her earnings exceed the limit.
Unemployment benefit—
claimant 0.75 a day Earnings must be from a subsidiary occupation only. Other earnings, or earnings in excess of 75p a day, disentitle claimant from benefit for that
wife 9.10 Increase in benefit for dependent wife not payable if her earnings exceed the limit.
Maternity allowance Nil Allowance not payable for any day on which paid work is done.
Invalid care allowance—
claimant 6.00 Benefit not payable if earnings exceed the limit.
wife 6.30 Increase in benefit for dependent wife not payable if her earnings exceed the limit.
Widow's benefits; attendance allowance; mobility allowance. No limit

of benefit payable may be reduced, however, if another pension or allowance is payable out of public funds and comes within the overlapping benefits provisions, or if a person has earnings in excess of any earnings limit applying to the particular benefit. The earnings limits which apply to the main national insurance benefits from week commencing 14th November 1977 are as follows: