The free telephone rental allowance administered by my Department is available only to people who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments and who are either living alone or only with children or persons who, because they are so permanently incapacitated, could not get help in an emergency. The number of people getting the allowance at present is about 114,000 at an annual cost of about £20 million.
People in receipt of pensions from other countries may, depending on the level of their pensions, qualify in addition for old age pension at a reduced level from my Department. In that event, they could also qualify for free telephone rental allowance subject to satisfying the normal conditions of the scheme. Extending the allowance to additional categories would have financial implications. Statistics to enable a costing of the proposal put forward by the Deputy are not readily available, but if he has a particular type of situation in mind I would be happy to consider the matter further.
Two important improvements in the free telephone rental allowance were announced in last month's budget. A pensioner being cared for by a recipient of a carer's allowance will in future retain entitlement to the free telephone rental allowance where previously it would have been discontinued because the living alone condition would no longer have been satisfied. Also, a pensioner aged 75 or over and no longer living alone will retain entitlement to the free telephone rental allowance.