asked the Minister for Social Welfare the measures taken to date to rationalise the different means tests administered by his Department.
Written Answers. - Means Test Rationalisation.
346.
Following an inquiry into the operation of the means tests applied by my Department the following measures were taken from April 1979 with a view to removing anomalies:
(1) There was an increase from £25 in the case of claimants for old age non-contributory pension and from £100 in the case of widow's non-contributory pension, to a uniform £200 in the amount of capital which is not assessed as means of such claimants.
(2) Prior to April 1979 widow non-contributory pensioners had to surrender their pension when they reached age 66 and to apply for old age non-contributory pension. Where means were derived mainly from capital this could have resulted in a reduction in the amount of pension payable as compared with the widow's pension previously paid. Widows now retain their non-contributory pension after age 66 thus preventing a reduction in pension at that age.
(3) The unearned income of children up to £26 yearly for one child and £52 yearly for two or more children which was assessed against a widow in the calculation of her means for pension purposes was not made in the case of old age non-contributory pensions or unemployment assistance. The anomaly was removed by disregarding all the unearned income of a child or children of a widow when assessing her means. Deserted wives, unmarried mothers and prisoners' wives also benefited under this adjustment.
(4) Under a widow's, old age and blind pensions schemes a certain part of an applicant's earnings was not regarded as means if he or she had qualified children. The amount of the disregard was £78 in the case of widows, £39 in the case of old age pensioners and £104 in the case of blind persons. This anomaly was removed by increasing the disregard to £104 in all cases. It also extended to deserted wives, unmarried mothers and prisoners' wives.
(5) "Earnings" are defined for widow's pension purposes as being "derived from personal exertions" and were defined for old age pension purposes as "from employment under a contract of service". This anomaly was removed by adopting the first definition in all cases thus ensuring that, where there are qualified children, earnings from small farms and other types of self-employment up to £104 a year are not reckoned as means under the old age pension scheme.
(6) A pensioner whose means include a pension payable under statute or by another Government may not have his or her non-contributory pension reduced by more than the amount of any increase granted in the other pension. In the interests of equity this provision was extended to cover occupational and other pensions not already covered.
(7) The tables of means limits and corresponding reduced rates of pension formerly provided for stages of £1.40 between rates. Cases arose, therefore, in which applicants for non-contributory old age pension, widow's pension, deserted wife's allowance, unmarried mother's allowance, single woman's allowance, or prisoner's wife's allowance had their pension or allowance reduced by £1.40 a week where their means increased by £1 a week. As a step towards achieving the position that the pension or allowance will not be reduced by more than £1 a week for each £1 a week increase in means above the level at which maximum assistance is payable, stages of £1.30 between rates were provided as from April 1979. This benefited those in receipt of non-contributory pension or the other specifed allowances at less than the maximum rates.
(8) Dwelling houses and farm buildings had been assessable as means in the case of applicants for means-tested pensions and allowances on the basis of the rateable valuation less ground rent or mortgage interest. Provision was made to disregard the value of such premises in reckoning means.