§ Mr. ClayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the total savings in 1988–89 from uprating the illustrative figures for personal allowances in income support set out in the technical annex of the White Paper "The Reform of Social Security" (Cmnd. 9691) by 4.5 per cent. to 5 per cent. instead of 6.5 per cent. to 7 per cent.
§ Mr. ScottThe income support personal allowances have been uprated by between 6.5 per cent. and 9 per cent. from their technical annex levels.
§ Mr. ClayTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide a breakdown of the composition of the personal allowances in the income support scheme.
§ Mr. ScottThe intention in the income support scheme is to give the claimant a single sum of money out of which he can budget to meet his normal weekly needs. Thus the 359W personal allowance in income support is not broken down into individual components earmarked to cover specific expenses.