Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of maternity allowance for self-employed people.

Maternity Allowance is paid by the Department to eligible self-employed and employed women who are not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay.

The standard rates of payment are reviewed annually during the uprating of social security benefits.