§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his Department's current policy on charging for home helps in cases where the person being helped is in receipt of supplementary benefit; and what recent action he has taken to publicise the policy.
§ Mr. John PattenLocal authorities have discretion to make reasonable charges for their home help services. We would prefer local authorities not to charge those at supplementary benefit levels of income or below for these services and we have made this clear on many occasions.