HC Deb 14 March 2001 vol 364 c608W
Mr. Denis Murphy

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many mothers in Wansbeck have received the Sure Start maternity grant since its introduction. [153143]

Angela Eagle

The information is not available in the format requested as the number of recipients of Sure Start maternity grants (SSMGs) is not held by sex or parliamentary constituency. SSMGs may be claimed either by the mother or by her partner, one of whom must have been awarded a qualifying benefit.

In the period since the introduction of SSMGs on 27 March 2000 to the end of February 2001, 1,368 people have received a SSMG in the Benefits Agency's Northumbria area.