PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE

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PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE:

(Review of quantum): 8.

Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the quantum of the Public Assistance allowance will be reviewed in view of the soaring inflation over the past six months.

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Public Assistance (PA) rates are calibrated to provide for the basic living needs of PA recipients. The PA scheme and rates are reviewed regularly. We recognise that the cost of living has risen more rapidly than usual in the last year, and MCYS has been closely monitoring the impact of increasing costs on our PA recipients. We have recently revised the PA rates to help PA recipients cope with the rising cost of living. From May 2008, PA recipients received an increase of between $40 and $165 a month in their allowance, depending on the size of their households.

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An elderly Public Assistance recipient living alone has seen a 14% increase from $290 a month to $330 a month. A family with two adults and two children has seen their assistance increased by 19% from $855 to $1,020 a month. Furthermore, for families with school-going children, their children's school and miscellaneous fees are fully covered under the Ministry of Education's Financial Assistance Scheme.

The PA allowance is just one part of the overall safety net for those who are unable to work. They also hold a Public Assistance card which makes them eligible for free medical treatment and heavily subsidised rental housing. On top of these, PA recipients also receive extensive community support, such as befriending programmes, daily activities at Senior Activity Centres, food rations, free meals, ang pows and cash allowances. PA recipients will also be receiving disproportionately more of the $3 billion worth of benefits which will be given out to Singaporeans this year. On top of the GST credits, Senior Citizen Bonus as well as Growth Dividends, PA recipients will also receive U-Save, service and conservancy charges and rental rebates. On top of this original $3 billion package, the Government will be distributing an additional support package amounting to $256 million, as announced recently at the National Day Rally by PM. The enhancements comprise a 50% increase in the remaining instruments of Growth Dividends and a 50% increase in the total amount of U-Save rebates to be given out in Fiscal Year 2008.

Taking all these together, a single elderly PA recipient living in a one-room rental flat will receive about $1,250 in additional cash handouts by the end of this year. When we include Medisave top-ups and U-Save, S&CC and rental rebates, the total amount of benefits a single elderly PA recipient living in a one-room rental flat could receive by the end of this

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year is almost $2,000. A PA family with two adults and two children living in a two-room rental flat could receive about $1,600 in cash benefits, an additional $2,000 in Medisave and Post-Secondary Education Account top-ups, U-Save, S&CC and rental rebates. In total, such a family could receive benefits amounting to more than $3,600 this year. So we will continue to help PA recipients cope with the increase in the cost of living.

Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio): I would like to thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive answer. While I understand that the PA recipients receive a lot of assistance in kind, my question is actually about the PA allowance alone. I would like to ask if the Ministry could have a system whereby the PA allowance quantum be automatically reviewed on a regular basis, taking into consideration any appropriate indices deemed necessary for a fair and timely computation of the amount to address the basic needs of the PA recipients.

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: We will have to disappoint the hon. Member because we do not believe that the PA allowance should automatically be tied to the CPI. We will monitor the cost of living and every item. In the last one year, we have already increased about 14% to 20%, based on the number of people in the household. In 2007, it was about $260. Then, we increased it to $290. This year, we have increased it to $330. For families with children, they get about $1,000-plus in public assistance. We should also bear in mind that we should not overdo it, otherwise we will undermine work ethics in Singapore. Just now, hon. Members talked about the low-income group. For the low-income group, we peg it at $1,500. Now the PA for a family with two or three children is about $1,000-plus. And that is only cash. Including other subsidies, eg, rental, medical fees, free education, and the budget handouts, they will easily get about $2,000 to

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$3,000. We do sympathise with such cases. We will monitor the cases carefully. I should say that Public Assistance is only manageable. I do agree that it is not very comfortable, but it is manageable.

What is most important is that, together with MOE and others, we try to help the children to make sure that they go to school, have pocket money, proper meals and break out of the poverty cycle.