§ 43. Mr. Michael Martinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the current rate of take-up for attendance allowance in Scotland.
§ Mr. PrenticeYes. Although the proportion of recipients of the allowance, per thousand of the population, is lower in Scotland than in the United Kingdom as a whole, a possible explanation is the somewhat lower life expectancy of people over pension age in Scotland. This could be a significant factor, as half the recipients of the allowance are over that age. However, I should emphasise that there are also variations between different English regions in the numbers who qualify for the allowance, and the experience of some of those regions is little different from that in Scotland.