§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in the Official Report those tax-free disability payments which incur reduction of a blind person's tax allowance; if the tax allowance is reduced when the disability benefit is paid on account of a handicap additional 542W to blindness; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 11 June 1980, c. 203]: The payments in question are :
disability pensions for blindness caused by war service,injury and disablement benefits paid in respect of blindness under the Social Security Acts for industrial injuries,augmentation allowances i.e. payments in the nature of compensation for loss of earning capacity made by or through local authorities to the blind who are in sheltered employment.No reduction is made where the disability benefit is paid in respect of a handicap additional to blindness.
As my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary said on 10 June in reply to a debate in Standing Committee on the Finance Bill, we are reviewing the future of the blind allowance.