ASSISTANCE RENDERED TO HARDSHIP FAMILIES

Dr S Vasoo asked the Minister for Community Development if he will indicate the recent trend on hardship families seeking help from his Ministry and the kinds of assistance rendered to them.

The Minister for Community Development (Mr Abdullah Tarmugi): Mr Speaker, Sir, families who require financial assistance can apply under various schemes, among which are the interim financial scheme or Public Assistance Scheme (PA), the Rent and Utilities Assistance Scheme (RUAS) managed by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), the Small Families Improvement Scheme (SFI) or given interest-free loans for skills training or upgrading.

The Ministry's quarterly figures for 1998 show an upward trend in the number of applications under the various financial assistance schemes. In the first quarter (January-March 1998), there were 637 applications. In the last quarter, it rose to 998 applications, and this represents a 57% increase. The bulk of the increase came from applications for PA and RUAS.

The Ministry's schemes are complemented by a network of schemes available from other Government departments, hospitals, grassroots organizations, NCSS, VWOs as well as the CDCs. The Ministry also refers families to these agencies for additional assistance as required and my Ministry also works with other Government agencies to help these families with other difficulties such as payment of rental or mortgage loans, job placement, application for school tuckshop stalls and access to services such as legal aid.

My Ministry is closely monitoring the trends of cases requiring help but it will continue to work closely with the other agencies and support and help families who are in need. We will ensure that there are sufficient funds to support any future increases in applications under these various schemes.

Dr S. Vasoo (Tanjong Pagar): May I ask the Minister what steps are being taken by the Ministry to reach out to families that are less well-informed? Could he also tell us the profiles of the families that are seeking help?

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi: Sir, I am afraid that I do not have the data available right now. The Member could send in a further question if he wishes. As regards reaching out, we leave it to the various family service centres and our VWOs to reach out to the ground because they are on the spot and they will be the ones who are better able to reach out to the families who are in need.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Sir, in view of the quite significant increases in the number of applications for assistance, has the Ministry sufficient staff to actually process the applications expeditiously?

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi: For schemes which are under the Ministry directly, we have enough staff to handle them. As for the other schemes, the RUAS, for example, is handled by NCSS, and when we refer to other Government agencies and the VWOs, they will have their own staff to process these applications.

Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam (Non-Constituency Member): May I ask the Minister whether there is an income level threshold for applicants?

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi: For public assistance schemes, we have certain income levels. I cannot tell him now. But there are. We apply these quite liberally. For others, it all depends on the circumstances of the family. If they are really in need of help, we will give them, regardless of the income level. For example, a person earns beyond a certain level of income but at that particular moment, he may need temporary help, eg, under RUAS, we do give such help at that moment in time, because it is a temporary help.

Mr Jeyaretnam: May I ask the Minister who finally makes the decision as to whether a family is to get any assistance or not?

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi: For Public Assistance, it is the Ministry. But for the other assistance schemes, RUAS, for example, as I said, it is administered by NCSS. So NCSS will make the decision and for other assistance schemes which we refer to other Government agencies, they will make the decision on whether the application will be approved or not.