§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the income gained by claimants from the employment transfer scheme to pay for lodgings is treated by his Department as income for computing family income supplement eligibility; and if so, whether he will consider changing the regulations.
§ Mrs. Chalker:I understand that the supplement officer, the independent adjudicating authority responsible for awards of family income supplement—FIS—in the first instance, would not take account of either (a) the temporary separation allowance which helped with the cost of lodgings under the employment transfer scheme prior to April 1981; or (b) the transfer grant which has subsumed it under the current scheme in considering the gross income of a family claiming FIS.