Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Bill

I support the abolition of the health in pregnancy grant, not least because £150 million a year could simply be better spent on improving the life chances of our younger generation—for example, by reducing the deficit and the burden that they would otherwise bear as a result for years to come. The grant is poorly focused, poorly targeted and poorly timed. It is poorly focused because it simply does not have to be spent on nutritious food or on the health and well-being of the mother or child, as was originally intended. As Dr Callan of the Centre for Social Justice said in evidence:"““There was absolutely no guarantee that the grant would be spent on nutritious food.””––[Official Report, Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Public Bill Committee, 4 November 2010; c. 116, Q279.]" Indeed, the Committee heard evidence to the contrary, as has tonight been confirmed by a Labour Member. The grant is poorly targeted because it is paid to the better-off and not just those who really need extra financial help in pregnancy. I find that quite offensive, as someone who—along with many of, if not all, my colleagues on this side of the House—shares a real desire to improve the life chances of the less well-off.