§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why persons in receipt of family income supplement whose annual awards fall due for renewal from December onwards will not receive the increased level on 27th November, but must wait until their annual revision 530W becomes due; how many persons will be disadvantaged by this new arrangement; and what is the longest time any family must wait until receiving the new award.
§ Mr. NewtonFIS awards, once made, continue for a year regardless of any changes in the recipient's circumstances, including increases in income. In view of this, we concluded that it was anomalous that awards 531W should be uprated during their currency, especially because the result of doing so involves increasing benefit for many families whose circumstances would not justify it at the time.
It is estimated that about 210,000 FIS awards were in payment in November. Transitional arrangements were made which covered some 10,000 families, who will be able to take full advantage of the new rates if they so wish. Of the remaining 200,000 it is estimated that some 40,000 would have been entitled to a partial uprating and some 50,000 to a full uprating, if their awards had been reassessed at the time of the uprating.
The longest a family may have to wait before being able to qualify for an award under the new levels is 51 weeks, although the average is 23 weeks.