§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will state (a) the purpose of the maternity grant, (b) the categories of mothers who are eligible for it and the categories that are ineligible, and (c) whether he is satisfied with the differences in treatment.
§ Mr. OrmeI have been asked to reply.
Maternity grant is a lump sum—£25— intended as a contribution towards the general expenses associated with having a baby. It is a contributory benefit payable on the national insurance record of the mother or her husband. Over 90 per cent. of the births in Great Britain each year attract maternity grant: those 361W who do not qualify are for the most part those who cannot meet the contribution conditions—among them, for example, single women, such as schoolgirl mothers or school leavers, with no contribution record of their own, wives of students, wives of long-stay prisoners and wives of recent entrants to the scheme. The counterpart of rights to any benefit being based on the satisfaction of contribution conditions is non-eligibility for it when the contribution conditions—which are far from onerous in the case of the maternity grant—are not satisfied. In some cases the Supplementary Benefits Commission may be able to help. The cost of paying the grant without regard to contributions would be of the order of £1 million-£l½ million a year. But this is something which would only fall to be considered as resources became available, and even then only in the light of developing policies and competing priorities.