Truancy (Hansard, 5 November 2002)

§ Dr. Francis
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment the Government has made of the consequences of withholding child benefit if parents do not co-operate in preventing truancy. [78692]
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§ Malcolm Wicks
The Government are continuing to assess a number of measures related to anti-social behaviour, including actions to deter truancy. Once that assessment has been completed, the Government will come forward with proposals in the usual way.

§ Mr. Paul Truswell
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to publish the proposed Green Paper on pensions. [76092]

§ Mr. McCartney
The Government will publish a Green Paper on pensions policy later in the year.

§ Vera Baird
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) couple families with children and (b) one-parent families will be passported to the Sure Start Maternity Grant under the new tax credit scheme. [77270]

§ Maria Eagle
It is estimated that there will be around 250,000 awards of the Sure Start Maternity Grant in 2003–04 under the new rules. This compares with 201,000 in 2001–02. Around 25,000 of the additional successful claims will be due to the link to the new tax credits.
Information on eligibility by family type is not available.