§ Mr. HainTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will alter the regulations so as to permit a mature student married with children, to claim additional benefits during vacations to supplement the full grant to which he or she is currently restricted and which is their sole income.
§ Miss WiddecombeWe have no plans to do so. The regulations already provide for students with dependent children or their non-student partners to claim housing benefit or family credit in the long vacation, subject to the normal conditions of entitlement. These rules also apply in term-time and the short vacations. Income support is available to student couples with children in the long vacation and to the non-student partner of a student throughout the year subject to the normal conditions of entitlement.