SINGAPORE — Those who are permanently unable to work will see more monthly cash assistance to help them meet their daily needs, under enhancements to the Public Assistance (PA) Scheme.

A single-person household will receive S$450 in cash, an increase of S$50, while a couple will receive S$790, up from S$700 currently.

Recipients under the scheme will continue to receive other free services, such as medical treatment in polyclinics and restructured hospitals and primary and secondary school education, with more “flexibility” introduced to support those who need to incur other expenses, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his Budget speech yesterday.

The PA Scheme was last revised in 2011, when pensioners also received more help.

The Budget also promised more help for lower-income government pensioners.

Mr Tharman said the monthly pension ceiling will be raised by S$20 per month to S$280 and S$1,210 respectively, a move which will benefit about 10,000 pensioners.

To improve social service delivery, about 20 Social Service Offices will also be set up in Housing and Development Board towns so that needy families can benefit from “better coordination” of Government and community help nearer their home.

A single agency, however, will now oversee integrated care services for the elderly so as to meet the needs of a growing elderly population. The Centre for Enabled Living and the Agency for Integrated Care will be integrated, which will allow the elderly and their caregivers easier access to medical as well as social services in the community.

A dedicated agency looking into the needs of the disabled with also be set up, with more details to be provided later by the Ministry of Social and Family Development in the Committee of Supply debate.

“We want citizen-centred social support services that are more integrated, so that anyone who needs help can get it conveniently and need not go to different agencies,” Mr Tharman said.

Voluntary Welfare Organisations TODAY spoke to lauded the initiatives.

“The Social Service Offices will ease up the jam and burden of Community Development Councils,” said Yong-En Care Centre Executive Director William Chua.

While increases in financial assistance are “always good”, the Government could consider allowing medical subsidies to “follow the person instead of the institution”, particularly those who visit mobile clinics and not polyclinics or hospitals, said Director of Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing Peh Kim Choo.

Madam Roilah Baba, 68, who takes care of her late son’s two children, aged 14 and 19, on the S$550 she receives under the PA Scheme, said she welcomed any increment in financial help. “With the extra money, I will be able to pay off the S$800 I owe in rent and buy better food so we don’t always have to eat Maggie noodles or canned food,” she said.

The Government will inject S$200 million into the ComCare Fund, while self-help groups will be given an additional S$10 million grant to help them enhance their programmes over the next two years. Ashley Chia