§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the number of single-child families who have applied for child benefit at the latest available date.
§ Mr. OrmeI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Members for Braintree (Mr. Newton) and Woolwich, East (Mr. Cartwright) on 8th March.—[Vol. 927, c.487.]
§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will announce the amount of child benefit to be disregarded for payment of each other means-tested benefit for those who do not qualify for family income supplement.
92W
§ Mr. OrmeIn the case of supplementary benefit, none of the child benefit is disregarded. With other, differently structured, means-tested benefits—not obtained through a passport—the arrangements are necessarily rather different but reflect the common objective that people should break even if possible and otherwise make minimal gains or, exceptionally, minimal losses; and, as explained in my replies to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham) on 28th January and to my hon. Friend the Member for Sowerby (Mr. Madden) on 28th February and in my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Sowerby on 4th March, the amount of child benefit to be disregarded for any individual family will vary with the net increase in their income as a result of receiving child benefit.—[Vol. 924, c.788–90; Vol. 927, c. 49–50; Vol. 927, c. 328–9.]