§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to introduce a linking rule, as for existing benefit entitlements, to ensure that after April 1988 transitional protection is not lost after very short periods of loss of entitlement to income support.
§ Mr. ScottWe have already provided a linking rule for transitional additions. Normal transitional additions of £10 or more will not cease as a result of loss of entitlement to income support for a period of eight weeks or less, eight weeks being the normal linking period for socal security benefits. This rule also applies to special transitional additions — the protection against loss of domestic assistance additional requirements–of any amount.