§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the current arrangements for converting a concessionary coal allowance into cash when a house is no longer heated by coal; and what impact this has on entitlement to benefits.
§ Miss WiddecombeBritish Coal is responsible for the arrangements for converting concessionary coal into a cash allowance.
All payments in kind, including the value of concessionary coal, are ignored in the income-related benefits. Payments of cash made in lieu of concessionary coal are available for normal living expenses in the same way as a retirement or occupational pension and are therefore taken fully into account. However, where a person's income is above the level of his or her applicable amount, the operation of "tapers" in housing benefit, community charge benefit and family credit enable the person to keep some of that extra income.
The tapers are applied to any income above the applicable amount and the answer offset against the maximum benefit payable. In housing benefit the taper is 65 per cent., in community charge benefit it is 15 per cent. and in family credit it is 70 per cent.