Mr. Christopher Bowes:

There is a non-contributory version of the widow and widower's pension but only approximately 700 people are on this at any given time. It is a much smaller scheme in terms of take-up because it has been overtaken to a significant degree by the one-parent family payment. There are specific rules for entitlement of people who are widowed to the one-parent family payment. Anyone who has dependent children who come within the age range of those payments, for example, would be able to get an increase for a qualified child on the one-parent family payment, which they are not able to get on the non-contributory widow and widower's pension. For that reason, and for the most part when it comes to the non-contributory and social assistance side, people who have a bereavement of a spouse or civil partner will end up on the one-parent family payment rather than the non-contributory version of the widow and widower's pension scheme.