Home Confinement Grant (Hansard, 17 June 1963)

4. Mrs. Butler
asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance when he proposes to increase the amount of the home confinement grant.

§ Mrs. Thatcher
My right hon. Friend has no proposals for increasing the amount of this grant, which is now double what it was when the grant was introduced in 1953.

Mrs. Butler
Does the Parliamentary Secretary think that the present grant 4 of £6 is adequate to meet all the additional expenses, bearing in mind that the cost of a home help alone is more than £6 for a five-day period? Since more and more mothers are compelled to have their babies at home, is it right that because of the shortage of maternity beds they should suffer financial hardship?

§ Mrs. Thatcher
The grant is made as a contribution towards extra expenses. All the medical and nursing expenses are, of course, met. The hon. Lady mentions the additional expense of a home help, but this expense frequently has to be met when the mother is confined in hospital and has a young family left at home.

5. Mrs. Butler
asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what arrangements he is making to enable mothers to claim a proportion of the home confinement grant if they are discharged from hospital after 48 hours.

§ Mrs. Thatcher
My right hon. Friend does not contemplate any change in the present provisions. The home confinement grant is a single payment of £6 for confinement at home and is additional to the maternity grant of £16. There is already provision for it to be paid in full in the circumstances described in the Question if the mother was admitted to hospital as an emergency case.

Mrs. Butler
Is the hon. Lady aware that it has become increasingly the practice of hospitals now to discharge mothers after 48 hours? Therefore, these mothers would not come within the scope of the hon. Lady's reply. Since their expenses would be very much the same as those of mothers in home confinements, will the hon. Lady look at the question again?

§ Mrs. Thatcher
The maternity grant as such already has an element of attendance allowance in it. Indeed, the two were combined into one in 1953. We put up the maternity grant by £2 in the last increase.