To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security further to his oral answer of 19 November, Official Report, column 5, about the percentage of mothers who voluntarily give information about the father, whether this refers to lone parents or single mothers who are lone parents and whether he was referring to general information which would enable his Department to pursue an absent father for maintenance.

The figure—about 75 per cent.—is based on information currently available from local offices about income support cases where the child's parents have never been married to each other. Obtaining the name of the father is the first step in pursuing maintenance in these cases.