HC Deb 24 July 1978 vol 954 cc557-8W
Mr. Carter-Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the optimum number of cots in intensive care

involved in extending widowed mother's allowance as suggested in the hon. Member's Question. The cost to the Exchequer would of course be reduced by increased income tax receipts; and the cost could be further reduced if maintenance payments were recovered as envisaged by the Finer committee though this would require several thousand additional civil servants. It is not possible to quantify these items with any degree of precision but the savings on each count might be of the order of £100 million or more.