§ Mr. McKelveyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why Mrs. Esther Connelly, 21 Peatland Quadrant, Kilmarnock, who is a married woman with three children, in full employment earning a low wage and having an unemployed husband, will not be able to secure her entitlement of family income supplement, as she is entitled to do under the recent amendment to the Family Income Supplement Act 1970, until November 1983.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe Government's intention to bring the provisions for equal treatment of men and women in the family income supplement (FIS) scheme into operation in November 1983 was approved during the passage of the Social Security Act 1980. My hon. Friend explained that the changes in FIS and supplementary benefit had to be made simultaneously and there were considerations of cost. The hon. Member will appreciate that I cannot comment on what the position of individual families will be at that time.