§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the increase in the number of persons receiving severe disablement allowance and in its annual cost if the disablement conditions were those prevailing before the inroduction of the 80 per cent. disability test.
§ Mr. ScottUp to April 1987 (the latest date for which statistics are available) some 16,000 claims to severe disablement allowance (SDA) had been disallowed because they did not satisfy the 80 per cent. disablement condition. It is not possible to say how many of these people would have satisfied the conditions for the noncontributory invalidity pension which was replaced by SDA in November 1984. The gross annual cost of paying 16,000 claims to SDA would be some £21 million.