§ 28. Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether applications for child benefit are proceeding satisfactorily.
§ Mr. OrmeClaims have not come in as fast as we had hoped: about 1¾ million claims had been made by the end of last year out of nearly 3 million expected from families with one child. Families with more than one child getting allowances do not have to claim. It is important that one-child families who have not yet claimed do so now, so that claims can be cleared in time for the start of the scheme in April.