§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many potential claimants have formally renounced their entitlement to interim child benefit at the latest date for which this information is available.
§ Mr. OrmeThe precise information requested is not available. The indications are, however, that relatively few lone parents have informed the Department that they do not wish to receive or to continue to receive child interim benefit. Up to 12th October, about 277,000 claims had been made, of which some 253,000 had been approved and 18,500 disallowed. About 8,500 order books had been returned to the Department for a variety of reasons, such as marriage or reconciliation.