Vol. 543 No. 3
48 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the total number of persons who received benefit under the back to school clothing and footwear allowance; his plans to improve this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26875/01]
The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards. The scheme is designed to assist certain recipients of social welfare and health board payments with the cost of children's school uniforms and footwear. Certain people on low incomes who are in receipt of family income supplement may also qualify for assistance. Under the scheme an allowance of £63, or 79.99, is payable in respect of qualified children from two to 11 years and an allowance of £78, or 99.04, is payable in respect of qualified children from 12 to 22 years. Full statistics for the scheme for this year are not yet available. While the closing date for applications was 30 September 2001, processing and payment of late claims is ongoing. The final returns from the health boards are not expected until later this year. However, current indications are that about 64,500 families consisting of about 150,000 children will have benefited from the scheme. The estimated expenditure on this year's scheme will be in the region of £10.7 million, or 13.6 million.
I am aware of the difficulties faced by low-income households when faced with providing clothing and footwear for children at back-to-school time in September each year. I am also very conscious of the importance of supporting low income families so that their children can participate fully in the education system to the maximum extent possible. In that regard, I established a working group to undertake a review of the scheme as part of my Department's series of programme evaluations. The review has examined all aspects of the scheme including the rates of payment as well the income limits, the means test, time of payment, the eligibility criteria and other issues. I expect to have the working group's final report in the near future.
