§ Mrs. Haymanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost of increasing supplementary benefit rates by £1.25 per week during school holidays for each child in a family at school for (a) one-parent families and (b) for other families; and whether he will consider doing so.
§ Mr. OrmeOn the assumption that school holidays cover 12 weeks of the year the annual cost would be about £7½ million for one-parent families and about £6 million for others. I have no plans for incurring such expenditure which would involve a major complication to the supplementary benefit scheme at a time when my right hon. Friend has set up a review of the schemes with a view to its simplification.