The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

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  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits – 1 April 1987

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

    Mr. Ralph Howell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total amount paid out in state benefits, including mortgage interest relief, to people earning more than (a) the national average wage and (b) two thirds of the national average wage at the latest date for which figures are available.

    Mr. Major In 1985-86, the estimated cost of mortgage interest relief in the United Kingdom to people with taxable incomes above two thirds average gross adult male full-time earnings (£130) was £4 billion. About £3 billion of this was to people with taxable incomes above average earnings (£195). On the same income basis, the corresponding social security expenditures in Great Britain were £7.2 billion and £3.9 billion in 1985.

    Mr. David Atkinson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to raise the level of the amount of charitable income that can be disregarded for supplementary benefit purposes.

    Mr. Major We have no plans to raise the level of the amount of charitable income that can be disregarded for supplementary benefit purposes. However, we shall be putting forward proposals to increase the amount of any voluntary or charitable payment that can be disregarded in the new income support scheme from April 1988 from £4 to £5 a week. The disregard level will apply also to the new housing benefit and family credit schemes.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Maternity Payments – 31 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Maternity Payments on 31st March 1987.

    Mr. Lawrence Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he proposes to introduce the new lump sum maternity grant of £80 from the new social fund following the withdrawal of the £25 grant on 6 April.

    Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Mr. Wood) on 20 March at column 669.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments – 31 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 31st March 1987.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many payments of severe weather allowance have been made in Wales this winter.

    Mr. Major Up to 3 March 1987, the latest date for which figures are available, approximately 125,000 £5 weekly payments for exceptionally cold weather were made in Wales.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Board and Lodging Claimants – 30 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Board and Lodging Claimants on 30th March 1987.

    Mr. Meadowcroft Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his answer on Monday 9 March, if he will give the number of children belonging to the 6,000 claimants who received supplementary board and lodging payments, and who were said to have dependent children.

    Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 16 March 1987, c. 409]: In December 1984, an estimated 10,000 dependent children were in families receiving supplementary benefit board and lodging payments.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Cold Weather Payments – 30 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Cold Weather Payments on 30th March 1987.

    Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the estimated cost of administering cold weather payments for the period January to March 1987, assuming maximum take-up; and how much was spent on publicising these payments;
    (2) how many cold weather payments have been made in 1987 in each week for which information is available, to claimants in each of the categories (a) over 65 years, (b) chronically sick or disabled, and (c) with a child under the age of two years.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions – 30 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions on 30th March 1987.

    Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the average basic, graduated and earnings-related retirement pension awarded to women aged 60 years and men aged 65 years respectively, in each year since 1978, including the guaranteed minimum pension for contracted-out employees.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Mobility Allowance – 30 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Mobility Allowance on 30th March 1987.

    Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the circumstances covered by the authority issued in summer 1986 to make ex gratia payments to mobility allowance claimants.

    Mr. Major In March 1986, a judgment by the Court of Appeal overturned a decision of a tribunal of social security commissioners which had held that a medical appeal tribunal could and should consider, in appropriate cases, whether a claimant who was unable to satisfy the conditions for an award of mobility allowance as at the date of claim did satisfy them from a later date.

    Whilst the legislation was being amended to restore the law to what it was believed to be before the judgment, arrangements were made for extra-statutory payments to be made on the same basis as if awards from a later date were still permissible. As part of the amendment, now in section 71 of the Social Security Act 1986, such payments were put on to a statutory basis by treating them as payments of mobility allowance and by treating the recipients as having been entitled to the allowance for the period the payments were made.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Mesothelioma – 30 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Mesothelioma on 30th March 1987.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of awards of industrial death benefit for mesothelioma in 1984 and 1985; and when he expects the 1986 figures to be available.

    Mr. Major The following table shows the numbers of awards of industrial death benefit for mesothelioma in 1984, 1985 and 1986:

    Year | Number of awards
    1984 | 139
    1985 | 196
    1986 | 247

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Social Fund – 30 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Social Fund on 30th March 1987.

    Mr. Dubs Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek the views of voluntary organisations providing residential and other services for supplementary benefit recipients as part of the consultation process on the proposed social fund.

    Mr. Major I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) on 25 March at column 211.

    Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how the social fund budgets to be issued to local social security offices in April 1988 will differ from the cash limits which are to be introduced when there is sufficient experience of the operation of the fund.

    Mr. Major The budgets will be specific to individual offices, and each office will be required to keep spending within its budget. Within the total amount available in the fund at any time, however, there will be contingency arrangements at national level to meet unforeseen demands while totally unexpected increases in expenditure at the end of a year can, if necessary, be accommodated by running down the standing balance in the fund. A cash limit, when introduced, will apply to the aggregate of voted money paid into the fund in any financial year.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Maternity Payments – 27 March 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Maternity Payments on 27th March 1987.

    Mr. Dubs Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in Putney claimed the maternity grant in the last year for which figures are available.

    Mr. Major Information is not available in the form requested. But in the 12 months ending 31 December 1986, 1,120 claims for maternity grant were made at the Wandsworth local office of the Department which covers Putney, although the boundaries are not conterminous.

    Mr. Dubs Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in Welwyn and Hatfield claimed the maternity grant in the last year for which figures are available.

    Mr. Major Information is not available in the form requested. But in the 12 months ending 31 December 1986, the following numbers of claims to maternity grant were made at the Department’s local offices which cover the constituency, although their boundaries are not conterminous:

    Area | Number
    Hatfield | 1,008
    Hertford | 1,339
    St. Albans | 1,509

    Mr. Dubs Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in Battersea claimed the maternity grant in the last year for which figures are available.

    Mr. Major Information is not available in the form requested. But in the 12 months ending 31 December 1986, the following numbers of claims to maternity grant were made at the Department’s offices which cover the Battersea constituency, although the boundaries are not conterminous:

    Area | Number
    Balham (1)
    Battersea (1)
    Wandsworth | 1,120

    (1) Claims for these offices are dealt with at Broadstairs out-station. A total of 5,258 claims were dealt with at that office but this total includes claims proper to other offices.