§ Mr. Hannamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he proposes any change in the rule whereby attendance allowance for a severely disabled child is withdrawn as soon as the child enters residential accommodation.
§ Mr. NewtonYes. I have been concerned that this rule may inhibit the development of respite care schemes, which the Government are concerned to encourage, and I am pleased to announce that we intend to seek an amendment to the regulations to allow payment of attendance allowance to continue for the first four weeks that a child is in residential accommodation.
We intend to lay the necessary regulations before the House as soon as possible, with a view to implementing the change in August.