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Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Family Income Supplement on 5th May 1987.

Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish information showing the proportion of claims for family income supplement in which it is necessary to contact employers to verify information on earnings; how many of these contacts can be attributable to inadequate wage slips; how many cases arise because the employee does not receive wage slips; what other reasons necessitate checks with employers; and to what extent the incidence of checks with employers has changed since the introduction of family income supplement.

Mr. Major It is estimated that inquiries to employers on earnings are made in around three quarters of claims for family income supplement. Inquiries are made either because the claimant has not provided the necessary pay-slips or because further information is needed to establish normal earnings; a breakdown of the overall estimate according to the precise reason for the inquiry is not available. Estimates of the level of inquiries to employers are not regularly made and recorded, but there is no evidence to suggest that there has been any significant change in recent years.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Credits on 5th May 1987.

Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, what is his estimate of how many men aged 60 to 64 years are receiving national insurance credits without being required to register as unemployed.

Mr. Major I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Disabled People on 5th May 1987.

Mr. Alfred Morris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representation there has been by his Department at the series of conferences on the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 organised by MIND and RADAR; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Major The Department was not invited to attend these conferences, which I understand were intended principally to brief representatives from the voluntary organisations and local authority social services departments about the provisions of the Act and give them the opportunity of discussing its implications.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Food (S Manual) on 5th May 1987.

Mr. Hume Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why the guidelines on average expenditure on food in clause 4736 of the S manual were not based on data relating to the entire sample of the 1979 “Family Expenditure Survey”.

Mr. Major I understand from the chief adjudication officer that the figure of £9 was derived from data in respect of single pensioners, married couple pensioners and single adults under 65 in the lowest 20 per cent. household income bracket as it was considered that these data more accurately reflected expenditure by supplementary benefit claimants than would data from the entire sample. Data from the entire sample would have provided a higher figure of average expenditure on food, resulting in less help by way of dietary additions.

Mr. Hume Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the basis for determining the percentage or proportion of the relevant scale rate for adults used for calculating the dietary figures for children in clause 4736 of the S manual.

Mr. Major The figure of £9, derived from the 1979 family expenditure survey, was approximately 30 per cent. of the adult householder long-term scale rate at November 1981. I understand from the chief adjudication officer that the figures in respect of children were therefore based on 30 per cent. of the children’s scale rates. As data from the family expenditure surveys relate to households rather than to individuals, they do not provide information specifically in respect of children.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Disabled People on 1st May 1987.

Mr. Alfred Morris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe on 10 April, Official Report, column 503, if he has yet written to the voluntary organisations’ steering group on the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 with proposals for their involvement in planning the implementation of the Act; and if he will make a further statement.

Mr. Major I am still considering the points made by the members of the steering committee at the meeting on 1 April. As indicated in my earlier reply, I shall write to them as soon as possible suggesting a framework for involving voluntary organisations, where appropriate, in future work on the implementation of the Act.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions on 1st May 1987.

Mr. Woodcock Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of men have a sufficient national insurance contribution record by the age of 60 years to entitle them to a 100 per cent. basic pension.

Mr. Major I regret that the information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Disabled Persons Act 1986 on 30th April 1987.

Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many representations he has received in 1987 from (a) hon. Members and (b) other people, concerning the timetable for implementing the full provisions of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Major 216 representations have been received from hon. Members and 15 from other people or organisations since the beginning of 1987 about the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986. The majority of these have been concerned with implementation.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 29th April 1987.

Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will extend the deadline for claiming severe weather payments; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Major The Supplementary Benefit (Single Payments) (Amendment) Regulations 1986 provide for claims to be made within 13 weeks of the end of a period of exceptionally cold weather. The period was increased from 28 days in the original proposals following consultation with the Social Security Advisory Committee. We have no plans to amend the regulations.

Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cold weather payments have been made in 1987 at the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr. Major Up to 10 March, the latest date for which information is available, approximately 2 million exceptionally cold weather payments of £5 had been made.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Overseas Pensions on 29th April 1987.

Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the most recent available estimate of (a) the number of retired people, by country of residence, living abroad in a country with which Britain has no reciprocal social security agreement, and who would otherwise be receiving a state retirement pension and (b) the cost of paying a state retirement pension to these people.

Mr. Major British retirement pensions are payable anywhere in the world. Cost-of-living increases are paid, however, only where there is a reciprocal agreement with the country concerned to provide for this.

The number of retirement pensioners who are living in a country with which the United Kingdom has no reciprocal social security agreement to provide for payment of the increase is as follows:

Number of Retirement Pensioners, in overseas Countries at 31 December 1985 (Latest Figures Available)

Country | Number

Albania | 5
Algeria | 1
Andorra | 88
Angola | 1
Anguilla | 49
Antigua | 119
Argentina | 133
Australia | 96,126
Bahamas | 106
Bahrain | 15
Bangladesh | 1,253
Barbados | 729
Belize | 10
Bolivia | 4
Botswana | 38
Brazil | 133
Brunei | 9
Bulgaria | 9
Burma | 7
Cameroon | 4
Canada | 54,388
Cayman Islands | 22
Chile | 38
China | 7
Colombia | 23
Cook Islands | 5
Costa Rica | 5
Czechoslovakia | 25
Djibouti | 3
Dominica, Commonwealth of | 233
Dominican Republic | 132
East Germany | 13
Ecuador | 9
Egypt | 34
El Salvador | 1
Ethiopia | 4
Falkland Islands and Dependencies | 6
Faroe Islands | 1
Fiji | 27
Gabon | 1
Gambia | 5
Ghana | 44
Grenada | 298
Guatemala | 3
Guyana | 124
Haiti | 1
Honduras | 2
Hong Kong | 331
Hungary | 138
India | 2,580
Indonesia | 13
Iraq | 3
Japan | 42
Jordan | 7
Kenya | 345
Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) | 2
Kuwait | 6
Lebanon | 26
Lesotho | 6
Liberia | 4
Libyan Arab Republic | 2
Madagascar | 2
Malawi | 38
Malaya | 45
Mexico | 56
Monaco | 160
Monserrat | 180
Morocco | 28
Mozambique | 1
Naura, Republic of | 2
Nepal | 14
Netherlands Antilles | 6
New Zealand | 23,167
Nigeria | 69
Norfolk Island | 11
Norway | 119
Oman | 8
Pakistan | 3,369
Panama | 7
Papua New Guinea | 17
Peru | 34
Philippines | 34
Poland | 2,459
Puerto Rico | 3
Qatar | 6
Romania | 19
Rwanda | 2
St Helena and Dependencies | 30
St Kitts-Nevis | 277
St Lucia | 350
St Vincent | 237
Sarawak | 2
Saudi Arabia | 23
Senegal | 8
Seychelles | 24
Sierra Leone | 33
Singapore | 60
Solomon Islands | 4
Somalia | 134
South Africa | 18,879
South Korea | 2
South West Africa or Namibia | 13
Sri Lanka | 94
Sudan | 9
Swaziland | 42
Sweden | 64
Syria | 1
Taiwan | 2
Tanzania | 39
Thailand | 31
Togo | 1
Tonga | 3
Trinidad and Tobago | 251
Tunisia | 8
Turks & Caicos Islands | 2
Uganda | 12
United Arab Emirates | 22
USSR | 741
Uruguay | 16
Vanuatu (New Hebrides) | 1
Venezuela | 26
Virgin Islands | 29
Western Samoa | 7
Yemen Arab Republic (North) | 719
Yemen, People’s Democratic Republic of (South) | 87
Zaire | 5
Zambia | 86
Zimbabwe | 3,498
The annual cost of paying these retirement pensions was £168 million in November 1985. Payment at the full November 1985 rates would have cost an additional £166 million.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensioners on 28th April 1987.

Mr. Deakins Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the cost of giving single pensioners with no other sources of income an extra £5 per week and pensioner couples £8 per week assuming no change in social security benefits.

Mr. Major I shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.