§ Mr. Grocottasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has any plans to provide a maternity grant for adoptive mothers; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. OrmeI have no plan to make maternity grant available to adoptive mothers. Maternity grant is a lump sum payment of £25 made to the natural mother to assist with the expenditure she incurs in giving birth to a baby and for help she may need during the lying-in period. These expenses do not arise in the case of adoptive mothers; accordingly, it would be inappropriate to extend maternity grant to them.
§ Mr. Grocottasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would have been the cost in 1976–77 of giving the maternity grant to adoptive mothers.
§ Mr. OrmeAs my hon. Friend is aware, social security legislation does not provide for paying maternity grant to adoptive mothers because they do not incur18W the expenses in childbirth for which the grant is paid. If the grant had been payable to all mothers who, in 1977, adopted children under six months of age, the additional cost to the National Insurance Fund would have been in the region of £30,000.