§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in cases where married and cohabiting women have been awarded both arrears of invalid care allowance and an extra-statutory payment to cover the period from December 1984, national insurance contributions have been credited for the whole of the period from December 1984 until invalid care allowance was paid.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 12 November 1987]: Yes, except in any period for which a married woman's choice of reduced liability for national insurance contributions was in force.
§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of married or cohabiting women who have since the benefit was extended to them(a) been refused invalid care allowance because they were in receipt of a national insurance benefit payable at a higher rate than invalid care allowance, (b) had payment offset by the amount of a national insurance benefit paid at a lower rate than invalid care allowance and (c) had payment of invalid care allowance offset by additions to other national insurance benefits in respect of dependants.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 12 November 1987]: The information available does not distinguish between women according to their marital status. Since June 1986, when the allowance was extended to married and cohabiting women, some 2,270 claims from women have been disallowed on account of the payment of other social security benefits which equal or exceed the weekly rate of invalid care allowance (ICA). In a further 568 cases payments to women have been reduced on account of other social security benefits paid at less than the weekly rate of the allowance. No information is available about cases in which payment of ICA results in a corresponding reduction in a dependancy increase in another benefit which has previously been paid to someone else in respect of the ICA recipient.
§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what interest is payable on amounts of invalid care allowance which have been paid late.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services when Mrs. Brigid McClennan of 26 Templemore road, Oxton, Birkenhead, will receive payment of the invalid care allowance she applied for on 5 November 1986. (Ref: 060011).
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 18 November 1987]: Mrs. McClennan's claim was decided on 17 November and she should receive payment within the next seven days. I regret that processing of her claim took much longer than is usual and I will be writing to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether his Department, in dealing with claims for invalid care allowance, follows its normal practice of paying interest where payment is delayed for more than 12 months.
§ Mr. Scott[holding answer 18 November 1987]: It is not the normal practice of the Department to pay interest where payment of benefit is delayed for more than 12 months. Since 1977, however, the Department has paid compensation where payments have been delayed for more than 52 weeks as a result of clear and unambiguous departmental error. Back payments of invalid care allowance, up to December 1984, made following the retrospective extension of the allowance to married and cohabiting women in June 1986, do not fall within the scope of the compensation scheme.