§ Mr. Newtonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost to public funds of making the £17.50 per week widowed mothers' allowance a non-contributory benefit and the extra cost of extending it to all divorced or single parents with the care of a child.
§ Mr. Deakins, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 26th May 1978; Vol. 950, c. 805], gave the following information:
It is estimated that the net public expenditure cost of turning widowed
556Will, day care facilities for the elderly, for the mentally handicapped and for the mentally ill, and for home help and meals services, and for other facilities for which his Department has current guidelines.
§ Mr. MoyleThe information requested is given in the table below giving the departmental guidelines and the levels achieved by Nottinghamshire at 31st March 1977. In addition, the levels of provision for England at the same date are shown for comparison. The guidelines represent levels of provision of service that it is hoped to achieve in the country as a whole. The actual levels that are desirable in any locality, and the progress towards them, will vary according to local circumstances.
mother's allowance into a non-contributory benefit for all widows with children would be of the order of £5 million a year at the present rates of benefit—£17.50 plus £6.10 for each child—which will be in force until next November.
The estimated net public expenditure cost of paying benefit as a non-contributory benefit at the same rates as widowed mother's allowance to all lone parents with children, whether widowed, separated, divorced or single, would be of the order of £600 million. This estimate is derived from an analysis by the Department of Health and Social Security of data from the Family Expenditure Survey 557W and is subject to sampling error. This analysis was carried out in 1977 and the estimates worked out at that time were based on the rates of widowed mother's allowance in force before November 1977, including the additions for dependent cvhildren—£15.30 plus £6.45 for the first child and £5.95 for each other child. Detailed estimates based on current benefit rates, or excluding the dependency addition, are not available, but it is not thought that the use of the current rates would have a marked effect on the net cost. The estimate has, however, been adjusted to take account of the latest estimate of the number of one-parent families given in my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn and Hatfield (Mrs. Hayman) on 13th July, that is 750,000 in 1976.—[Vol. 953, c. 730.] In all the circumstances, the estimate given above cannot be regarded as other than a very broad indication of the additional public expenditure cost
FAMILIES AND PERSONS DEPENDENT ON SUPPLEMENTARY BENEUT (Thousands) Grand Total Over Pension Age Unemployed Others under Pension Age Families Persons Families Persons Families Persons Families Persons December 1976 … 2,940 4,725 1,687 1,981 654 1,427 599 1,317 November 1977* … 2,991 4,743 1,738 2,034 671 1,432 582 1,276 * Figures for 1977 are not directly comparable with previous years due to a change in the method of estimation.