§ 39. Mrs. L. Jegerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the total sum paid in the last financial year by the National Assistance Board in allowances to deserted wives and children in cases where maintenance orders were not being fulfilled.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe National Assistance Board informs me that information in this form is not available. Some related information is, however, given on pages 12 to 17 of the Board's latest Annual Report.
§ 40. Mrs. L. Jegerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the total sum paid in the last financial year by the National Assistance Board in allowances to unmarried mothers and their children in cases where affiliation orders were not being observed.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs set out in the National Assistance Board's latest Annual Report, about 16,000 unmarried mothers were receiving Assistance at the latest available date at a cost of about £2 million a year. No information is available, however, as to the number of cases or amount of money within these totals which was the result of breaches of affiliation orders.
§ Mrs. JegerDoes the right hon. Gentleman's Department take any steps in cases where it is known that affiliation orders have been made, or is National Assistance freely given, as one would wish it to be from the woman's point of view? Does the Minister's Department do nothing as far as the actual court order is concerned?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIn the strict sense, my Department does not take steps, but the hon. Lady will be aware that there is a section of the National Assistance Act under which the Board can exercise some of the rights of the woman concerned in cases where an order has been made.
Mr. T. WilliamsSince this has been a problem for decade after decade and the only sanction that the Government or any Government Department can apply is merely to send the person to gaol, may I ask whether some alternative method of extracting the money from the person concerned could be made rather than merely to send the man to prison, which does not help the woman at all?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs the right hon. Gentleman knows, there have been one or two proposals in that direction. I agree with him that the present law is not wholly satisfactory
§ 41. Mrs. L. Jegerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many prosecutions were initiated by the National Assistance Board against persons who had failed to fulfil their obligations relating to maintenance orders and affiliation orders; and what were the results in each case.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am having inquiries made and will write to the hon. Lady.