§ Mr. Ronnie CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will indicate the loss of weekly income in 1988–89 for a two-child family as a result of the failure to maintain child benefit in line with the retail price index in the recent uprating and in the 1985 uprating; and if he will show for the same family, assuming they pay £30 rent and £13 rates per week, that both children are at primary school and that there is one folk-time wage earner on £100 gross wages, the effect on their weekly income of(a) the changes in housing benefit, (b) the switch from family income supplement to family credit and (c) the abolition of free schools meals.
§ Mr. ScottI refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. McKay) on 17 December 1987 at column707. The relevant figures for this question are as follows:
£ per week Gain (+)/Loss (-) Child benefit—full uprating November 1984 to September 1987 0 Replacing Family Income Supplement (cash and kind) by Family Credit +5.95 Rent rebate changes -8.90 Rate rebate changes -4.19