§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in respect of (a) the disabled housewife's allowance, (b) the invalid care allowance and (c) the non-contributory invalidity pension, respectively, what is her current estimate of the gross cost of the benefit, what is her 23W current estimate of the net cost of the benefit, what is her current estimate of the total number of beneficiaries, and, where appropriate, what is her current estimate of the number of beneficiaries who will remain dependent on supplementary benefits in spite of receipt of the benefit; and whether she is able to make
Name of benefit Estimated full-year costs at present benefit levels (£million) Estimated number of beneficiaries Estimated number of beneficiaries who will continue to receive supplementary benefit Gross Net Non-contributory invalidity pension (for men and single women) … … 70 10 220,000 125,000 Invalid care allowance … 6 1 * * Non-contributory invalidity pension (for married women "housewives") … 16 15 40,000 Not applicable * No firm information is available. As explained in paragraph 61 of "Social Security Provision for Chronically Sick and Disabled People" (House of Commons Paper No. 276 of 1974), a figure of 11,500 beneficiaries has been used for costing purposes.