What is "attendance allowance"

n. A sum of money paid to someone to cover the expense of attending a meeting etc. away from home

Attendance Allowance is a non-contributory Social Security benefit paid to elderly disabled people in the United Kingdom. It was introduced in the National Insurance Act 1970. The benefit is intended to support for those who live independently but might otherwise need to go into residential care. It is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions.

A claimant must show that they need help in connection with their bodily functions or need continual supervision. At night supervision would have to involve someone being awake to watch over the claimant. Bodily functions are things that most people would do for themselves, they do not include things like cooking, housework or shopping which many people have done for them. Such help must be needed frequently throughout the day, or during the night the attention required must be prolonged or repeated.

Needs are assessed separately for the benefit and for eligibility for social care, which is run by local authorities.

In 2015, the cost of the benefit was approximately £5 billion and 1.5 million people were receiving it.

An attendance allowance is a per diem payment made (most typically, though not exclusively) to public representatives to cover the costs they incur in attending an assembly away from home.

In some district assemblies, the amount may include an element for loss of earnings that the representative might otherwise have achieved in their normal work.

In principle, the allowance should reflect the distance that the representative must travel and in particular whether overnight accommodation will be needed.

Given the risk that the payment might be seen as "representatives lining their pockets at the taxpayers' expense", some jurisdictions prefer to reimburse only those costs that are supported by receipts attached to an itemised travel and subsistence claim.