§ 21. Mr. Parkerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will introduce legislation to permit the continued payment of the school allowance for a child of a widow until the end of the school year in which he is 18.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI think the hon. Member has either family allowances or National Insurance dependency benefits in mind, since education maintenance grants are not a matter for me. I have no proposals for a further upward extension of the age of entitlement for these allowances.
§ Mr. ParkerDoes the right hon. Gentleman think it right that a widow should have financial difficulty when her child is taking the G.C.E. A level?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe hon. Gentleman sent me particulars of a case, which I read with interest. But that type of case seems to be much more one for the local education authorities through a maintenance grant than for the extension of family allowances.