§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South on 19th April 1978, undertaking to publish as soon as it was assembled information on the benefits where calculations of total income for purposes of eligibility for benefit are affected by income from child benefit, if he will now publish that information.
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§ Mrs. Sally Oppenheimasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the net income from supplementary benefits and all other benefits of a disabled person in 1974 and at present, expressed at current prices.
§ Mr. OrmeThe total income, after payment of rent, of a single disabled person
February 1974 Rate £ Present Value* of 1974 Rate £ Present Rate £ Supplementary Benefit, Ordinary Rates: Householders … … … … 6.60 12.71 14.55 Non-householders … … … … 5.70 10.97 11.60 Long-term Rates: Householders … … … … 8.15 15.69 17.90 Non-householders … … … … 7.15 13.77 14.50 Attendance Allowance: Higher Rate … … … … 6.20 11.94 14.00 Lower Rate … … … … 4.15 7.99 9.30 Mobility Allowance … … … … Not in payment — 7.00 * Calculated on the basis of RPI (less housing) up to March 1978.
§ Mrs. Sally Oppenheimasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the purchasing power of a family, with three children under the age of 11 years, on supplementary benefits and all other benefits in February 1974 and at present, expressed at current prices.
§ Mr. Stanley OrmeThe total income, after payment of rent, of a family with
February 1974 Rates £ Present Value of 1974 Rates* £ Present Rates £ Supplementary benefit ordinary rate … … 18.20 35.04 36.70 Long-term rate … … 19.40 37.35 41.50 Free school meals … … 0.45 0.87 1.25 Free welfare foods(2 children) … … 0.70 1.35 1.76 * Calculated on basis of RPI (less housing) up to March 1978.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons in the parliamentary constituency of the Isle of Ely, or in Cambridgeshire if the Isle of Ely is not separately assessed, are now in receipt of some social security benefit; and what were the relevant figures in each of the last four years.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many teenagers in
382Wreceiving supplementary benefit is shown in the table below. Any other social security benefit to which such a person was entitled would usually be taken wholly or partly into account for supplementary benefit purposes, except for attendance allowance and mobility allowance which are shown separately in the table. It is assumed that the person has no other disregarded resources and receives no additions to benefit because of exceptional circumstances.
two children under 5 and one child age 5 to 10 receiving supplementary benefit is shown in the table below. It is assumed that the family have no disregarded resources and receive no additions for exceptional circumstances. The family would also be entitled to the other benefits shown separately in the table.
the parliamentary constituency of the Isle of Ely, or in Cambridgeshire, if figures for the Isle of Ely constituency are not available, are now in receipt of some social security benefit; and what were the figures for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. OrmeI regret that the information is not available for either the Isle of Ely or for Cambridgeshire.
§ Mr. Sproatasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the titles of all benefits where calculation of total income for purposes of eligibility for these 383W social security benefits, in cash or in kind, includes child benefits as income; and what estimate he has made of the total amount of decrease in these benefits that will follow as a result of child benefit income being included for purposes of their calculation.
§ Mr. Orme, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19th April 1978], gave the following information:
The means-tested benefits for which child benefit is taken into account in determining total income, and hence eligibility are listed below. The right hand column shows the estimated increase in expenditure which would result in 1978–79 if child benefit were no longer taken into account for those benefits, but all other factors remained the same.
- 1. Supplementary Benefit—About £200 million.
- 2. Free milk and vitamins—Not known.
- 3. Help with or exemption from NHS charges for:
Prescriptions, Dental treatment and dentures, Glasses, Wigs and fabric supports—Not known.4. Patients' hospital travelling expenses—Not known.
5. Rent rebate and allowances—£8 million.
6. Rate rebates—£5 million.
7. Free school meals—£8.5 million.
8. Remission of direct grant school tuition fees—Not known.
9. Professional training grant for disabled people—Negligible.
10. Accommodation under part III of the National Assistance Act—Nil.
11. Legal Aid in civil law proceedings—Not known.
12. Legal Aid in criminal law proceedings—Not known.
13. Legal advice and assistance—Not known.
The estimates of decreases in the cost of benefits have been made by the administering Departments. In addition, child benefit may be taken into account for income purposes in determining eligibility for local authority discretionary benefits. Because the extent to which this is done is a matter for local authorities concerned it is not possible to give details.