§ Mr. Bestasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the figure by which child benefit would have to rise in order to keep its real value since January 1979 taking into account the rise in the retail price index.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe cash value of child benefit was £3 in January 1979. The current equivalent real value, based on the January 1980 retail price index, is £3.55. The current rate of child benefit is £4. These figures do not, of course, take into account the withdrawal of child tax allowances.