§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in drawing up his proposals for the severe disablement allowance, he made any calculations of the number of disabled married women in previous years who would have been eligible for such a new allowance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonNo, although it is estimated that under the present proposals some 55,000 disabled married women would be eligible for severe disablement allowance compared with 50,000 who are currently receiving housewives' non-contributory invalidity pension.
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§ Dr. BoysonUnder the rounding conventions used at upratings most benefit rates are rounded to the nearest 5p, and the roundings are applied without regard to financial effect. Therefore the rounding-down of some rates at an uprating will be counter-balanced by the rounding-up of others. For example, while the rate of retirement pension for a single person on his own insurance was rounded down at the 1983 uprating, the rate for a married woman on her husband's insurance was rounded-up and there was a net gain for pensioner couples because of the rounding effect. Overall, the financial effects of the rounding conventions are likely to be neutral.