§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what information he has as to the reasons why amounts of community grants paid by local Department of Social Security offices in Bradford vary substantially;
(2) what examination he has undertaken into the apparent inconsistencies between local Department of Social Security offices in spending budgets allocated under the social fund, including between Department of Social Security offices serving the same district.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydThere are a number of possible reasons for differences between the amounts of community care grants paid by the three Bradford offices. The total amounts paid will depend on the number of eligible applications, the purpose of the application, the amount applied for, the relative priorities of different applications and the discretion of social fund officers in deciding whether or not to award a payment.
We are monitoring expenditure by local offices on the social fund, and regional teams have been set up to monitor the quality of decision-making by social fund officers. Social fund officers are expected to exercise their discretion flexibly within the framework of the law and the Secretary of State's directions and having regard to the guidance in the social fund manual. As the social fund is a locally managed discretionary scheme, absolute consistency in spending between different local offices is therefore not feasible.