To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that the bereavement grant is made available to co-habiting partners of people in a situation where a spouse is still alive; and if he will make a statement. (142077)

Bereavement benefits cannot be paid to cohabiting partners. There are no plans to change this.

It is a principle of the social insurance system that all rights to benefit derived from another person’s contributions are based on the concept of legal marriage or, more recently, legal civil partnership.