§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if it is intended that the proposed unified housing benefit should attract automatic entitlement to other means-tested benefits such as free prescriptions, dental, aural and optical treatment; and what is the estimate of likely take-up of these benefits.
§ Mrs. ChalkerNo. Housing benefit claimants will be eligible in the normal way to receive these benefits either because they are pensioners (in the case of free prescriptions) or on grounds of low income. It is not possible to estimate the take up of these benefits.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if unified housing benefit will entitle claimants to claim the long-term rate of supplementary benefit after one year, in the same way as receipt of non-contributory invalidity pension does in terms of the Social Security Act 1980.
§ Mrs. ChalkerNo. I should add that only 16 and 17-year-olds are eligible for the long term scale rate (provided that they satisfy the other conditions of entitlement) after a year in receipt of non-contributory invalidity pension, or supplementary benefit, or both.