Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Unemployment Benefit – 25 November 1986

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Unemployment Benefit on 25th November 1986.

Mr. Gareth Wardell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to include the new increased 13-week exclusion period of disallowance from benefit for industrial misconduct and so on as a period of exclusion from the one-year’s entitlement to unemployment benefit.

Mr. Major Section 18(4) of the Social Security Act, 1975 provides regulation-making powers to treat days of disentitlement or disqualification for receiving unemployment benefit as days of entitlement for the purpose of determining whether a person has exhausted his 312 days of benefit. The application of this power in connection with days of disqualification under section 20 of the Act in cases of voluntary unemployment, industrial misconduct and so on, is currently being considered.

Mr. Gareth Wardell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy that any young person who is completing an A-level or other part-time further education course and who completes the declaration form to say he or she is genuinely prepared to withdraw from the course should an employment opportunity arise, will continue to be regarded as available for work and entitled to benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Major The current rules governing part-time study by people who are receiving supplementary benefit as unemployed are: the course must not be designated full-time by the institution and must not require more than 21 hours per week of supervised study; a qualifying period of three months in receipt of benefit or on a YTS course must be completed; and the claimant must be willing to terminate the course immediately if a suitable vacancy becomes available. We have no plans to change this policy.