Appeals to CPF Board for Inclusion in Silver Support Scheme

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Manpower what is the success rate of appeal for the Silver Support Scheme as at 31 August 2016 and what are the main reasons for the rejection of such appeals.

Mdm Speaker, I would like to put Silver Support in proper perspective. Silver Support is the latest addition to our seniors' support schemes. Over the years, the Government has put in place a comprehensive framework to support seniors in their various needs. There are three tiers of schemes. Let me illustrate.

The first tier offers universal coverage for all seniors, for example, with MediShield Life for healthcare, Senior Citizen Concession Card for public transport and foreign domestic worker levy concessions for daily care at home. The second tier provides another layer of support to a majority of seniors, for example, with Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher Scheme for utilities and healthcare. And to supplement retirement incomes, we also have the Silver Housing Bonus and enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme for seniors to monetise their property. The third tier is for a minority of seniors only, for those who need even more support. For example, ComCare for short- and long-term financial assistance, Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) Blue, MediFund and MediShield Life Additional Premium Support for healthcare.

The Silver Support Scheme is the latest addition to the third tier of support. In other words, it is only meant for the minority of seniors. It is targeted mainly at the bottom 20% of elderly Singaporeans aged 65 and above, with a smaller degree of support extended to up to the next 10% of seniors. Specifically, we identify them as seniors who not only have little or no family support currently in their retirement years, but also did not manage to save enough for their retirement because they earned low wages over their prime working years.

The eligibility criteria for Silver Support were announced by the Finance Minister at Budget 2016. The first criterion is total Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions made during prime working years until the age of 55.

Wages were generally low in the early years of Singapore's economic development. As a result, a vast majority of our workers earned low wages during their younger days. Notwithstanding the changes in CPF contribution rates over the years, a majority of our seniors, in fact, about two-thirds of them, have total CPF contributions of $70,000 or less when they turned 55. Among these two-third seniors, some owned smaller homes with less scope to monetise their assets and some currently continue to have lesser family support and lower household income.

By combining the three criteria of total CPF contributions capped at $70,000, home ownership of 4-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat or smaller, or living in 5-room flat or smaller, and lastly, household monthly income per person of not more than $1,100, we ensure that Silver Support goes to those seniors who need more help than the others. One hundred and forty thousand of them received their first Silver Support payouts in July 2016.

To help our seniors better understand the new scheme, we have set up a Silver Support website for them to check their eligibility and get clarifications on frequently asked questions. Seniors can also call the Silver Support hotline or visit any of the CPF Service Centres. To date, CPF Board has handled more than 28,000 enquiries.

We also disseminate information and distribute brochures on Silver Support through the grassroots network such as the Community Centres. Pioneer Generation Ambassadors are also trained to explain the scheme to seniors during their house visits. So far, they have explained to about 15,000 seniors.

So far, CPF Board has received about 2,300 appeals for Silver Support. Among the cases processed, some have been rejected because these seniors have far exceeded the thresholds of the three criteria. Some cases have been approved because the seniors' circumstances have changed in the last 15 months and they now meet all the three criteria. There were also some marginal cases where seniors narrowly missed out on one criterion, but met the other criteria by a big margin. For such appeals, we consider their circumstances in total and decide on a case-by-case basis. However, the majority of the appeal cases are still pending because CPF Board is waiting for the appellants to provide additional information and documents for us to reassess their eligibility.

The Silver Support Scheme will cost close to $320 million in the first year to support about 140,000 of our seniors. It complements the extensive range of support schemes for our seniors. Seniors who do not qualify for Silver Support but require financial assistance can approach any Social Service Office for help. As the Minister for Finance said at Budget 2016, and I quote, "the majority of our seniors, even if they do not qualify for Silver Support, will continue to benefit from substantial existing support schemes".

Mdm Speaker, just to ask a couple of supplementary questions. I have residents who said that their children are staying with them to help look after them because they are advanced in age and then because their children are staying with them, their household income has exceeded the requirement for the scheme. The solution seems to be to ask the children to shift out and that seems to defeat the purpose of having children look after the elderly. Would the Ministry consider situations like these, where the children stay to look after their parents, but their income should not be included because they are doing it as a matter of filial piety?

Secondly, in respect of the Minister's reply about having a website or hotline, many of the recipients are actually above 65 and I think that they probably do not have the ability to go to the website. Is CPF Board open to having, say, open houses at community centres to do better outreach to try to better explain to the seniors who do not really understand what this scheme is about? Many of my residents do tell me that they feel disadvantaged because their neighbours get it, and they do not.

Mdm Speaker, the first question is about seniors staying with their children and because of the higher income of the children, as a result, the seniors do not qualify for Silver Support because they exceeded the per capita household income of more than $1,100. The solution is not for the children or the senior to move out of the house; the solution is for the children to continue to take care of the senior.

The second point about the outreach, website and hotline, I agree with the Member. In fact, we discovered that as well. Most of the seniors would come to CPF Service Centres. At the same time, we are also arranging a series of community outreach. Many of the People’s Association (PA) staff are equipped with the information. I am also happy to say that quite a number of our grassroots advisers are also helping to bring the information out there to the community.

In short, I think in cases where the senior does not meet the requirements, we will look at the case from the total perspective. If the children are of a higher-income group and if they exceeded the per capita household income criterion by a big margin, those cases are likely to be rejected. But if they are marginal cases where the number of persons in the household is small, for example, a mother living with a son and the son actually is earning only about, say, $2,500, if this is divided by two persons, the per capita income becomes $1,250 which still exceeds the requirement. But in those cases, we will look at it from the total perspective and will consider it on a case-by-case basis. In any case, I hope that the children or the seniors do not move out of the house. They should continue to live together and take care of each other.

Madam, in line with what the Minister has mentioned about whether the children should stay at home to continue to look after the senior, could the Minister explain why we are just including the income of children who live with the seniors and not the children who are not living with the seniors? We seem to suggest that children should only look after their parents if they live with the parents. So, could the Minister clarify on this, please?

Mdm Speaker, whether the children live with the seniors, we hope they will all take care of the seniors. The point Mr Louis Ng is asking, if I get him right, is why is it that when we compute the per capita household income, we included only children who live with the seniors, and we do not include children who do not live with the seniors? This means not so much using per capita household income but per capita family income as a criterion. In other words, we look at it as a family, whether the children are staying together or not and so on.

I think, on the whole, no outcome is perfect. So, one of the key considerations of this scheme is that we would like to make the scheme as convenient for the seniors as possible. For example, under the Silver Support Scheme, the seniors need not apply for the scheme. On the per capita household income, we are able to gather the information through various sources, but that should not rule out, who knows, one day in the future, when we have enhanced our information network, we may one day evolve towards per capita family income basis. But as of now, we do it on a per capita household income. And let me emphasise, again. For cases if, indeed, the seniors feel that they deserve special consideration, help them to put up an appeal and, as I mentioned, we will look at the three criteria in totality. If they do not qualify based on the per capita household income criterion, but if we take into consideration the other two criteria, if we feel that, on the whole, they deserve that extra help, we will extend the Silver Support to them.

Mdm Speaker, just a supplementary question. For those who qualify for Silver Support, the criteria, are they subject to review annually or are they set for life?

I thank the Member for the question. The eligibility for Silver Support is reviewed annually. So, come November this year, we will complete the review for 2017, and the seniors will receive a letter of notification from CPF in December this year and that will apply for 2017.

This will be the annual review. But any time during the year if any of the seniors feel that their family circumstances have changed, maybe the income has dropped or whatever, they can request for a review any time during the year and CPF Board will conduct a review. For those who turn out to be eligible, they will qualify for Silver Support from the date of appeal without having to wait for the annual cycle.