§ Mrs. CaltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will(a) review the operation of Community Care Grants; and (b) introduce a system of grants for particular life events and needs, available to anyone on a low income. [79216]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Social Fund targets the available help on the neediest people in our society.
The Social Fund provides non-repayable Community Care Grants for vulnerable people in a variety of circumstances and we have already introduced improvements to the scheme. For example, the qualifying conditions have been extended to help people setting up home in the community who have been without a settled way of life, and we have increased the annual budget for grants from £97 million in 1997 to £108 million today.
The Fund already provides grants for easily identifiable life events through maternity and funeral payments. The discretionary nature of the Community Care Grants scheme enables it to meet a wide range of needs which a wholly regulated scheme could not.