Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to extend the eligibility for widowed parents' allowance to unmarried parents.

We are currently considering how to proceed following the recent Supreme Court judgement which ruled it incompatible with ECHR principles to provide that cohabitees with children are not entitled to Widowed Parent’s Allowance. When we have looked at all the options, I will update Parliament further on this matter.