asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will now introduce a special supplement for lone parents and their children who are in receipt of supplementary benefit, as recommended in the Finer Report.

No. The report itself recognised that the need for extra expenses varies among one-parent families. The Government consider that since it has not been shown that all one-parent families have measurably greater needs than other families receiving supplementary benefit their special individual needs should continue to be met through the discretionary powers of the Supplementary Benefits Commission.