§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the savings in supplementary benefit expenditure if young people were not allowed to claim supplementary benefit in their own right before the age of (a) 17 years, and (b) 18 years.
§ Mrs. ChalkerSavings in supplementary benefit expenditure from not paying supplementary benefit to people under 18 in their own right would have been about £55 million in 1979, the latest year for which information is available. This figure does not take account of the likely off-setting cost which would arise from having to pay a higher level of benefit to parents of these young people who are themselves receiving supplementary benefit. Information on the cost of paying benefit to people under 17 is not separately available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.