§ Sir B. Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the expenditure on supplementary benefit that will be required in 1971–72 as a consequence of non-payment of maintenance for their former wives and families by men who have obtained divorces or who have been divorced; and what was the comparable figure in 1969–70.
§ Mr. DeanThe best estimate that can be made on the information available is that expenditure under this heading in 1969–70 could have been something of the order of £2 million, and will not be greatly in excess of this figure in 1971–72.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will give the dates since 1964 when supplementary benefits under the National 501W Insurance Scheme have been increased and the percentage increase in each instance as compared with October, 1964, and as, since October, 1964, until October, 1970, the £ sterling has depreciated in purchasing value by 24.1 per cent. and is depreciating at 6.6 per cent. per annum since June, 1970, to what extent the 8 per cent. increase last month will have offset the depreciation in the purchasing value of the £ sterling since the date when the last increase was made.
Single householder Married couple Date scale rate effective from Scale rate Percentage increase since October, 1964 Scale rate Percentage increase since October, 1964 s. d. s. d. October, 1964* … … … 63 6 — 104 6 — 29th March, 1965 … … … 76 0 19.7 125 6 20.1 28th November, 1966 … … … 81 0 27.6 133 0 27.3 29th October, 1967 … … … 86 0 35.4 141 0 34.9 7th October, 1968 … … … 91 0 43.3 149 0 42.6 3rd November, 1969 … … … 96 0 51.2 157 0 50.2 2nd November, 1970 … … … 104 0 63.8 170 0 62.7 * October, 1964 scale rate effect from 27th May, 1963.