asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the Under-Secretary of State's reply to the hon. Member for Ince on 25 February concerning financial assistance to prisoners wives, when the Supplementary Benefits Commission decided on the provisions for expenses as set out in the reply; and why it was decided that such a provision should not apply where a husband is in prison in Northern Ireland.
[pursuant to her reply, 18 March 1980): The Supplementary Benefits Commission agreed in July 1969 to administer, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department, a scheme of financial assistance for visits to prisoners in Great Britain, on the lines indicated in my previous reply, with effect from April 1971. Staff resources have not been available to extend the scheme to cover visits to prisoners in Northern Ireland.—[Vol. 980, c. 137.]