§ Mr. Meadowcroftasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will amend the "S manual" procedure for paying the special allowance for exceptionally severe weather so that all supplementary benefit claimants in eligible areas will receive the allowance.
§ Mr. WhitneyNo. It is for the independent adjudication authorities to decide whether claimants are entitled to benefit under the supplementary benefit regulations, and if so how much. Some claimants in areas where the weather has been exceptionally severe will not be entitled to payments under the relevant regulation, because, for example, they have not spent more on fuel than they budgeted for or because they have savings over £500 sufficient to pay for the extra fuel they have used. In each case the amount payable if any must be established from information provided by the claimant when he receives his fuel bill for the relevant period.
The help which is available has been publicised in the areas in which the chief adjudication officer has advised local adjudication officers that the 'exceptionally severe weather' condition in the regulation has been satisfied and leaflets explaining how and when to claim are available from all local social security offices in these areas.
§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list the terms of reference of his review into the formula for exceptionally severe weather payments made under Single Payments Regulation No. 26; and who is to sit on the committee reviewing the allowances;
(2) if he will list the organisations he is inviting to give evidence to his review into the formula for calculating exceptionally severe weather payments.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe formula to which the hon. Member refers is contained in guidance issued by the chief adjudication officer rather than my right hon. Friend. In reviewing that guidance in the light of experience this winter he will no doubt take account of views expressed by hon. and right hon. Members and will seek such expert advice as he thinks necessary. More generally, as explained in my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member on 18 January at column261, the Government are looking at the provision for meeting special expenses of this sort in the context of the supplementary benefit review which received evidence from over 600 organisations and individuals.