§ Sir Ian GilmourTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will publish figures comparing the equivalence scales used in households below average incomes with the equivalent scales implied in the income support allowances and premiums, taking a single householder as the reference point; and if he will publish a table comparing the equivalent incomes derived from the households below average incomes scale with equivalent incomes derived from the income support scale, taking a single non-householder on income support with £33.40 as the reference point and the following family types for comparison:(a) a married couple, (b) a couple with one child aged under one year, (c) a couple with two children aged seven and 10 years, (d) a couple with three children aged two, four and six years, (e) a couple with four children aged five, seven, 10 and 16 years, (f) a lone parent with one child aged six months and (g) a lone parent with two children aged seven and 10 years;
(2) if he will publish the equivalence scale used for Households Below Average Incomes: A Statistical Analysis, taking the single adult non-householder as the reference point; and if he will also publish the equivalent incomes implied by that scale for each age group, taking the income support allowance for a single person aged 25 years or over as the reference point.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answers 29 and 30 November]: Figures providing the information requested have been put in the Library. It is important to recognise that, for the detailed reasons given in the commentary preceding the figures, comparisons between the households below average income equivalence scales and the income support relativities must be interpreted with caution.