RETIRED MINERS AND WIDOWS LUMP SUM PAYMENTS

That this House calls on the Secretary of State for Social Security to treat lump sum payments, accepted by retired miners and their widows in commutation of their cash in lieu rights, under the capital rules, to bring an end to the ludicrous state of affairs where the adjudicating authority is likely to decide, in such cases, that a person opting for a lump sum payment has deprived themselves of a regular income for the purposes of obtaining benefit and consequently is to be deemed as if they are still in receipt of that income.