§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what savings he expects in the current year, 1986–87 and 1987–88, respectively, from his decision to discontinue additional payments for central heating to supplementary benefit households in respect of claims made after 5 August 1985;
(2) how many supplementary benefit households he estimates will be in receipt of additions to their benefit for central heating at 31 March 1986, 31 March 1987 and 31 March 1988, respectively, following his decision to discontinue new awards for claims made after 5 August 1985;
(3) how many supplementary benefit households at present receive an addition to their benefit for central heating; and what is the annual cost.
§ Mr. NewtonAt December 1983, the latest date for which figures are available, 1,010,000 supplementary benefit households were in receipt of a central heating addition. At current rates, the total amount included in assessment of benefit as a result of these additions would be about £174 million a year.
The discontinuance of new awards of central heating additions from 5 August 1985 would be forecast to have the following cumulative effects under the existing supplementary benefit scheme:
Year ending 31 March No. of claimants affected (millions) Expenditure savings (£ million) 1986 0.2 10 1987 0.3 28 1988 0.4 55 The position after 1 April 1987 would, of course, be subsumed by the proposals for the replacement of the supplementary benefit scheme set out in the Green Paper "Reform of Social Security" (Cmnd. 9517 and 9518).
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§ Mr. Forresterasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what instructions were issued to benefit officers in 1980 on how to implement the automatic award of heating allowance to people in receipt of mobility allowance; and whether there have been any subsequent changes in those instructions.
§ Mr. NewtonInstructions to our local offices on implementation of the automatic award of heating additions to supplementary benefit recipients who receive mobility allowance were contained in a Departmental circular issued on 25 July 1980. Various amendments have been made since then and up-to-date instructions are contained in the latest version of the S manual at paragraphs 4321–4336 and circulars S28/84 and S30/84, copies of which are in the Library.