§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the number of women breadwinners, he will alter the wording used in his Department's pamphlet "How to Use Less Rates" from "if there are any people in your household other than your wife" to "if there are any people in your household other than your spouse".
§ Mr. Giles ShawResponsibility for rate rebates and therefore the preparation of associated advisory leaflets passes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Security next April as part of the housing benefit scheme. The Housing Benefit Regulations 1982 use the word "partner" to refer to one of a couple, and new leaflets, also in neutral terms, will shortly be distributed by his Department.