§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost of reducing to 20 the number of hours which lone parents have to work in order to qualify for family income supplement.
§ Mr. OrmeAbout £3¼ million. This estimate is based on a Department of Health and Social Security analysis of information recorded by respondents in the Family Expenditure Survey and therefore takes account only of lone parents already working between 20 and 30 hours per week. The cost would be greater to the extent that such a change in the full-time work rule caused some lone parents to increase their hours of work in order to qualify for family income supplement.