§ Dr. McDonaldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report a list of research centres on food allergies and of the centres at which specialised treatment for food allergies may be received through the National Health Service.
§ Sir George Young[pursuant to his reply, 16 February 1981, c. 37]: The Medical Research Council is the main Government.funded body supporting research into food allergies, from support by the Department of Education 400W and Science and the Health Departments. Such research is being supported in the department of bacteriology and virology at the University of Manchester, the department of pathology at the University of Cambridge, the department of immunology at the Institute of Child Health in London; and in the division of clinical sciences at the Clinical Research Centre, Harrow. Detailed information on facilities for treatment for food allergies within the National Health Service is not available centrally and the cost of obtaining such information would be disproportionate.
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§ Dr. John Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the maximum number of widows who could benefit from the abolition of the overlapping benefits rule; what the estimated cost of such a change would be; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Chalker[pursuant to her reply, 23 February 1981, c. 303]: There are half a million widow beneficiaries under retirement age and 2.7 million widows who are retirement pensioners. The abolition of restrictions on the payment of overlapping entitlements could benefit any of them. The eventual cost of such a change, when the 1975 Pensions Act arrangements become fully effective, cannot be estimated with any degree of precision, but would be likely to be of the order of £3 billion at current benefit rates. If the overlapping benefits rule were abolished there would be a further large cost in the case of married couples, who may also have duplicate entitlements.