HC Deb 22 July 1985 vol 83 cc413-4W
Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many two-parent families he estimates would be eligible to claim family income supplement if the number of qualifying hours were reduced from 30 hours to 24 hours;

(2) what he estimates would be the effect on the number of eligible claimants for family income supplement of reducing the number of qualifying hours from 30 to 24.

Mr. Whitney

One-parent families may qualify for family income supplement at present on the basis of remunerative work involving at least 24 hours weekly. If the qualifying hours for two-parent families were to be reduced from 30 hours to 24 hours weekly, we estimate that the number of families eligible for FIS would be increased by less than 10,000.