§ Mr. MillerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what gross budget will be set for the Discretionary Social Fund in 1998–99. [37190]
§ Mr. DenhamI am pleased to announce that the Social Fund gross discretionary budget for 1998–99 will be £501.2 million. £98 million will be allocated to Community Care Grants, £402.7 million to loans and £0.5 million will be set aside as a contingency reserve. The new allocation represents an increase of £33.7 million over the total gross budget for 1997–98.
317WOn 3 March 1998, Official Report, column 609, I announced changes to the directions covering the payment of community care grants. As part of this allocation an additional £1 million has been included in the provision for community care grants to extend the help available nationally to homeless people setting up home as part of a planned programme of resettlement. This additional funding will help more of those leaving hostel accommodation to obtain grants from the Social Fund and prevent their return to an unsettled way of life.
The Social Security Bill 1998 contains proposed changes to budgeting loan decision making. Moving to a fact based budgeting loan system will be fairer for applicants, easier for them to understand and more cost effective to administer. It is an important step towards our goal of an Active Modern Service. We also aim to further improve the fairness of the scheme by allocating the loans budget increase to achieve greater consistency of outcomes for applicants across areas. The £32.7 million increase which I am announcing today represents a first step towards this aim by enabling more loan applicants to receive an award.
Details of individual District budget allocations will be placed in the Library on 27 March.