ENG-1976 — Page 164

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Social Security

SOCIAL WELFARE

Social security is provided on the basis of three schemes-the public assistance scheme, the disability and infirmity allowance scheme, and the criminal and law enforcement injuries compensation scheme. All three are administered by the Social Welfare Department's social security division.

The public assistance scheme is means-tested but non-contributory. It is designed to provide cash assistance to needy individuals and to families whose incomes fall below a prescribed level. The benefits are regularly reviewed and adjusted as neces- sary in relation to the cost of living. They currently stand at $180 a month for a single person or, in the case of a family, at $130 for each of the first three members, $105 for the succeeding three and $80 for every additional member thereafter. A rent allowance is paid separately, and special additions to the basic benefit are granted in appropriate cases to cover the cost of nursery and school fees, special diets and other essential expenses.

In September the rent allowances provided in terms of the scheme were reviewed and substantially increased. The allowance for a single person went up from $41 to $63 a month. Allowances for families were increased according to the size of the family, with an increase from $82 to $190 for a family of two or three people and, at the other end of the scale, an increase from $176 to $557 a month for a family of 10 or more eligible members.

-At the end of 1976, the number of active public assistance cases totalled 49,899 as compared with 55,620 at the end of the previous year. This decrease is attributable largely to the upturn in the economy. Expenditure on public assistance in the financial year 1975-6 totalled $163.3 million as compared with $109.9 million in 1974–5.

The disability and infirmity allowance scheme caters for two vulnerable groups in the community-the severely disabled and the elderly infirm (aged 75 and over) who are not in residential care institutions. The scheme provides for a non-con- tributory non-means-tested allowance in addition to any entitlement to public assist- ance. The current disability allowance is $180 a month and the allowance for the infirm is $90 a month. These allowances are regularly reviewed in line with public assistance. The number of people receiving the allowances at the end of the year was 70,330 as compared with 64,599 at the end of the previous year. In the financial year 1975-6, expenditure in terms of the scheme amounted to $78.2 million as com- pared with $61.2 million in the previous year.

The criminal and law enforcement injuries compensation scheme is designed to assist victims of crimes of violence and people who are accidentally injured or disabled by law enforcement officers in the execution of their duties. The scheme provides for the award of compensation on a non-means-tested non-contributory basis, the amount being determined by a board whose members are appointed by the Governor. In 1976 a total of 674 awards were made. Expenditure on payments in the financial year 1975-6 amounted to $1.6 million as compared with $1.1 million in the previous year.