§ Mr. Ken HargreavesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether women who have left the marital home for fear of violence will be excluded from income support where their share of the marital home exceeds £6,000; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloIt is not our policy to deny income support to the partner who has left the marital home in the event of marital breakdown simply because of the capital value of her or his share in the home. We shall propose amending regulations as soon as possible so as to be able to disregard the person's interest in the property until its value can be realised. In the interim, arrangements have been made to pay such claimants the amounts that they would have received had income support been payable.