§ Mr. Raceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements have been made by his Department to protect the position of those recipients of supplementary allowance currently participating in the fuel direct scheme who on transfer of responsibility for payment of housing costs to local authorities, will have insufficient supplementary allowance in payment to allow the fuel direct deductions to be maintained.
§ Mr. NewtonLocal offices of the Department have been instructed to identify those claimants currently on fuel direct whose supplementary benefit entitlement will, on the introduction of housing benefit, be insufficient to enable fuel direct arrangements to continue and to give advance notice of this both to the claimants and to the fuel boards with a view to ensuring that satisfactory payment arrangements are agreed.