§ Mr. Stallardasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the text of the letter to him from the social security advisory committee requesting the Government to keep as much as possible of the current year's increase in pensions and other benefits when they decide the level of the 1983 uprating.
§ Mr. RossiThe text of the committee's letter of 18 November to my right hon. Friend was as follows
Dear Secretary of State,We very much welcome the real increase in social security benefits which takes place on 22nd November. The amount of this uprating will greatly help pensioners, other contributory benefit recipients and in particular the large numbers of people dependent on the supplementary benefit and FIS safety nets. We believe the increase to be much needed.It appears from the Chancellor's statement on 8th November that the full value of the uprating will unfortunately be available only for one year because there will then be some adjustment in the level of the 1983 uprating below the expected rate of inflation. Evidence from many sources, including the very large number of submissions we have received in our exercise to monitor the supplementary benefits scheme, points to the fact that benefit rates in general, and in particular the rates of the means-tested benefits, are too near to subsistence level to provide an adequate standard of living for the poorest people in our society.We are therefore writing to emphasize the need to maintain as much as possible of this year's real uplift in benefit rates when decisions are taken about the uprating for next year. In addition to some permament real increase in benefit rates, we also urge you most strongly to take the opportunity of the room for manouevre provided by falling inflation to make some necessary improvements in the structure of benefits. From the Committee's work to date the highest priorities for change include, in our view, the extension of the long-term supplementary benefit rate to unemployed people with children; the restoration of the 5 per cent. abatement in unemployment benefit now it has come into taxation; the abolition of the invalidity trap; the indexation of the £300 savings limit for supplementary benefit single payments; and the extension of the invalid care allowance to married women, a move which would also benefit Government policies on community care. These improvements could all be achieved within roughly 1 percent. of the 2½ percent. margin which seems likely to be available. They would all help to relieve areas of particular hardship and inequity in the social security system. In particular, the extension of the long-term supplementary benefit rate at least to unemployed families with children would go a step towards correcting what our 1981 annual report cited as the manifest injustice of excluding the unemployed from the level of long-term maintenance thought right for other groups of beneficiaries.We recognise the Government's wish to redeploy in other fields at least some of the money which has become available through reduced inflation. At the same time however we believe it is essential to consider both some permanent real increase in benefit rates and a package of high priority improvements to help those for whom the present system does not cater adequately, so that people dependent on social security can obtain some real benefit from the very welcome reduction in inflation generally.689WYours sincerely,Arthur Armitage,Sir Arthur Armitageon behalf of the Social Security Advisory CommitteeMy right hon. Friend's reply was as follows:
Dear Sir Arthur,Thank you for your letter of 18 November about this year's uprating, and the Chancellor's Autumn Statement. It is helpful to have this clear statement of the views of the Social Security Advisory Committee, which I and my colleagues will take fully into account in reaching decisions on the 1983 uprating at the time of the Budget.The matters you touch on have, of course, been the subject of much comment in Parliament since the Chancellor made his Statement, including a debate this week on the 5 per cent. abatement of unemployment benefit. As I said then, these matters have to be set in the context of this week's uprating when we are increasing rates of benefit generally by 11 per cent., and so giving a real increase in benefit values over the current level of inflation. I was glad to note the Committee's welcome for this. As regard changes in 1983, the Government must take its decisions in a considered and orderly way at the time of the next Budget, when we shall, as always, have to weigh priorities between conflicting claims. Your letter makes clear the Committee's current view of priorities, and we shall certainly give this full weight.Norman Fowler