§ 2. Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if she will carry out a survey of the living conditions of the poorest households in this country and publish a report.
§ Miss HerbisonI cannot add to what I said in reply to my hon. Friend on 9th March. I shall, however, be answering a later Question about a survey bearing on one aspect of the matter.
§ Mr. JenkinsHas my right hon. Friend noted that according to a recent authoritative analysis of official information, there was during the 'fifties an increase in the proportion of the population living below the National Assistance level? Is she satisfied that this trend has been arrested and will be reversed?
§ Miss HerbisonIt would be very difficult to say whether this trend had been arrested. There is a very great deal of concern about those families. The estimate I have is that about 300,000 are living below the National Assistance Board's scale. I hope to say something about this in answer to another Question.
§ Sir K. JosephIs the Minister aware that we are deeply concerned about the subject of this Question, though we must, of course, keep our comments until the right hon. Lady has answered Question No. 14, as I suppose it is? But is she aware that we do not accept that the standard of living of those on National Assistance fell during the 'fifties, because while we accept the good will and much of the value of the work, "The Poor and the Poorest," to which the hon. Mem- 1208 ber for Putney (Mr. Hugh Jenkins) referred, the Question fails to acknowledge the real value of National Assistance benefits, themselves raised between the two base dates under comparison?
§ Miss HerbisonI am afraid that the right hon. Gentleman misunderstood what my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Hugh Jenkins) said. What my hon. Friend said was that there are families where the parent is working but who are getting less. That is the only point he made.