§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his Department's response to the recommendations in the report of Policy Action Team 14 on Access to Financial Services on the scope of the Social Fund. [85180]
§ Malcolm WicksWe are committed to reducing social and financial exclusion and have given careful consideration to the recommendation of Policy Action Team 14 on extending the scope of Social Fund loans to people in low-paid employment.
The discretionary Social Fund provides grants and loans to help some of the neediest people in our society manage a wide range of unexpected or occasional costs. Over 1.2 million budgeting loans were made last year to people with the lowest incomes, receiving income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance. We have no current plans to extend access to budgeting loans to people with higher incomes as such help would be poorly targeted and potentially very costly.
We continue to keep all aspects of the fund under review.