John McGuinness
Question:400 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will review a decision not to grant a back to school allowance to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [23812/01]
Vol. 542 No. 2
400 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will review a decision not to grant a back to school allowance to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [23812/01]
The back to school clothing and footwear – BSCF – allowance scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards in parallel with the supplementary welfare allowance – SWA – scheme. 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. The scheme operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year. An allowance of £63, 79.99, is payable in respect of qualified children from two to 11 years and an allowance of £78, 99.04, is payable in respect of qualified children from 12 to 22 years.
A person may qualify for payment of the BSCF allowance if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare, health board payment, participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education and training course and has household income at or below certain prescribed levels. Details of the income levels, which vary depending on the composition of the household, are shown in the following tabular statement.
Household size |
Weekly Income Limit |
||
Couple with one child |
£194.40 |
(246.84) |
|
Couple with two children |
£209.60 |
(266.14) |
|
Couple with three children |
£224.80 |
(285.44) |
|
Couple with four children |
£240.00 |
(304.74) |
Household size |
Weekly Income Limit |
||
Lone parent with one child |
£124.00 |
(157.45) |
|
Lone parent with two children |
£141.00 |
(179.03) |
|
Lone parent with three children |
£158.00 |
(200.62) |
|
Lone parent with four children |
£175.00 |
(222.20) |
Details of expenditure on rent supplements paid by the health boards under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme in the years from 1996 to date are as set out in the following tabular statement.
Expenditure on rent supplements has increased substantially in recent years. This was mainly due to increases in rent levels in the private rented sector rather than recipient numbers. For example, there are currently 43,247 households in receipt of rent supplement, compared to 42,682 at the end of 2000 and 41,873 at the end of 1999. However, expenditure in 2001 is expected to be some £134 million, 170.14 million, compared to £101 million, 128.24 million in 1999, an increase of 33% over a two year period.
Expenditure on Rent Supplements 1996-2001 (to date).
Year |
Expenditure |
1996 |
£62.6 million (79.49 million) |
1997 |
£75.3 million (95.61 million) |
1998 |
£88 million (111.74 million) |
1999 |
£101 million (128.24 million) |
2000 |
£118.6 million (150.59 million) |
2001 (to date) |
£103.9 million (131.93 million) |