asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what savings in supplementary benefit payments are expected to follow from the introduction of family allowances for the first child of one-parent families; and what will be the estimated net cost of the proposed introduction after allowing for these savings.

As one-parent families receiving supplementary benefit of £1·50 or more will gain no advantage from the new benefit, many are unlikely to claim. It is not therefore possible to estimate the supplementary benefit savings. The £23 million cost of the new benefit as announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget speech is the cost, including about £1½ million for administration, after allowing for the effect on all other social security benefits.