0003250
G.F. 323
CONFIDENTIAL
Social welfare review: supplementary report
HKK.013/2.
2 O DEC1977
54
Live Pearliz ist
This report summarizes additional recommendations that were not appropriate for inclusion in the Green Paper "Help for those least able to help themselves" or which were excluded for reasons of brevity.
Public assistance scheme
a) Disregards
20
See $5
In XCC(77)65 (para. 22(b)) it was stated that it was accepted that the amounts of existing disregards would have to be reviewed at some stage: but that it seemed better to leave any review until the scale of allowance was itself being reviewed. The need to review the disregards level from time to time is also noted in the Green Paper. Following XCC(77)65, the scale of allowance was reviewed; and it is now to be increased with effect from 1 February 1977. A review of the amounts of disregards is therefore due. The simplest answer would be to increase the level of disregards so that they are worth now what they were worth in 1971 when the public assistance scheme was first introduced; and then round the figures to the nearest $5.
3.
The cost should be slight, since the main income disregard, help from voluntary agencies to meet household expenses, is in practice self limiting: the agencies only pay as much as the disregard. If the level of disregard is increased, it will not affect the amount of assistance payable.
b)
Rent allowance
4.
It is necessary to resolve an existing gap in provision on rent allowances. The public assistance scheme provides separately for rent because the amount of rent a family has to pay for equivalent accommodation may vary considerably for reasons quite outside the family's control. Accordingly, an allowance for rent is added to the scale of allowance when calculating entitlement to assistance. The allowance for rent is the actual rent or the highest rent payable in public housing (currently Oi Man Estate rents), whichever is the less.
5.
When the policy on rents was approved by Executive Council, the Council also agreed that where the rent in a long term case exceeded the rent allowance payable, the family should be eligible for compassionate rehousing (XCC(72)18, para. 21). It has not been possible to implement this decision fully; and the position is to be reviewed by the Secretariat Branches and Departments concerned. It is necessary to decide the issue one way or the other: either by regarding those eligible for the long term supplement whose rent allowance does not cover their rent in full as eligible for compassionate rehousing or by altering the basis of the rent allowance to enable more than the maximum rent level in public housing to be paid in suitable cases.
Otherwise, families on public assistance with high rents may he receiving less than their minimum needs
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