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Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalid Care Allowance on 25th March 1987.

Sir Richard Body Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will give the reasons for the delay in payment of the invalid care allowance awarded from 9 September 1985 to Mrs. Carol Cubberley of Horncastle Road, Boston, reference number 021327.

Mr. Major Mrs. Cubberley claimed invalid care allowance on 8 September 1986. Payment from that date was made on 17 November, but arrears from 22 December 1984 to 7 September 1986 were not paid until 20 March 1987. I regret the delay, which arose from a departmental error. Steps have been taken to minimise the risk of a similar mistake happening again.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Fund on 25th March 1987.

Mr. Austin Mitchell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current amount in the national insurance fund; and if any of the funds are re-invested.

Mr. Major In the “Report by the Government Actuary on the drafts of the Social Security Benefits Uprating (No. 2) Order 1986 and the Social Security (Contributions, Re-rating) (No. 2) Order 1986” (Cm. 24) it is estimated that the total balance of the national insurance fund at the end of the 1986-87 financial year will be £5,617,000,000.

The securities held by the National Investment and Loans Office on behalf of the fund are listed in the NI fund annual account (HC 103 published December 1986) and are almost entirely British Government Securities and loans to local authorities.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Maternity Payments on 24th March 1987.

Ms. Harman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in London claimed maternity grant in (a) 1980, (b) 1981, (c) 1982, (d) 1983, (e) 1984, (f) 1985 and (g) 1986.

Mr. Major It is estimated that the numbers of women who received the maternity grant in the Greater London council area in the years from 1980 to 1986 were as shown in the following table:

Year | Number

1980 | 81,500
1981 | (1)
1982 | 82,800
1983 | 90,100
1984 | 107,950
1985 | 129,050
1986 | 96,600 (2)

(1) Because of industrial action, no figures arc held of the number of recipients in the year.
(2) To September 1986 only, the latest date for which figures are available.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Disability Premium on 24th March 1987.

Mr. Ashley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects a reply will be sent to the letters from the Disablement Income Group to the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled dated 3 August and 29 December 1986, relating to the severe disability premium.

Mr. Major I replied to the letter dated 3 August on 4 November. In response to the letter dated 29 December I met representatives from the Disablement Income Group and other organisations on 21 January and wrote again on 4 February.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Family Income Supplement on 24th March 1987.

Mr. Ashley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations have been received urging the Department not to appeal against the decision of the tribunal which adjudicated on 16 December that the child care costs incurred by a working mother with a child and no husband could be set aside in the calculation of the amount of family income supplement due to her; what decision the Department has taken on the question of an appeal; and what reply was sent to those who made representations.

Mr. Major The matter of an appeal to the Social Security Commissioner against a decision by a social security appeal tribunal is one for the independent adjudication officer and not for the Department. I understand that the adjudication officer applied to the Commissioner on 26 February for leave to appeal to him against the tribunal’s decision. As far as we are aware, no representations urging against such an appeal have been received.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Mobility Allowance on 24th March 1987.

Ms. Harman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children in the London borough of Southwark are in receipt of mobility allowance.

Mr. Major I regret that this information is not available.

Mr. Ashley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects a reply will be sent to the letter from the Disablement Income Group to the Minister for Social Security and the Disabled, dated 11 December 1986 relating to mobility allowance.

Mr. Major I wrote to the Disablement Income Group on 3 February.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Prison Visits on 24th March 1987.

Mr. Coombs Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the cost of providing support for visits to prisoners by their fiancées in line with that given to spouses.

Mr. Major As well as assisting spouses. the prison visiting scheme also enables payments to be made to common-law spouses where the couple had lived together as man and wife for a substantial period or where they have a child. As information about the relationship between prisoners and those wishing to visit them is not collected centrally, it is not possible to estimate the cost of extending this assistance to fiancées.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits (Claimants) on 24th March 1987.

Ms. Harman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims were received by Peckham, Camberwell, Southwark and Kennington Department of Health and Social Security supplementary benefit offices for single payments in respect of the exceptionally severe weather in January 1987; how many of these claims have been processed; and how many are outstanding.

Mr. Major Information is not available in the form requested. However, up to 24 February 1987 – the latest date for which figures are available – the number of exceptionally cold weather £5 payments made and the number of claims refused by the Peckham, Camberwell, Southwark. Kennington and Oval offices were as follows:

Local office | Number of payments | Number refused

Peckham | 2,006 | 266
Camberwell | 1,854 | 157
Southwark | 3,162 | 311
Kennington Park | 2,988 | 440
Kennington (Oval) | 1,136 | 244

Ms. Harman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of claimants at the Peckham, Southwark, Camberwell and Kennington Department of Health and Social Security supplementary benefit offices who were entitled to severe weather payments actually claimed for the payments in January of this year.

Mr. Major This 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 National Insurance on 23rd March 1987.

Mr. Austin Mitchell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate (i) the revenue effect to the National Insurance Fund of abolition of the upper earnings limit and (ii) the loss to the fund of counting personal allowances for income tax purposes against the employee’s liability to contributions.

Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 12 March 1987, c. 294–95]: If the upper earnings limit for employees’ class 1 contributions were removed, but retained for the contracted out rebate, then the National Insurance Fund’s income from National Insurance contributions would have been £690 million higher in 1986-87.

If all personal tax allowances, including the married man’s allowance, counted against the employee’s liability for National Insurance contributions, then the National Insurance Fund’s contribution income would have been about £3.75 billion lower in 1986-87.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 23rd March 1987.

Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the numbers in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy district social security offices who have received exceptionally severe weather allowances in the current year.

Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 20 March 1987, c. 667]: Up to 10 March 1987, the latest date for which information is available, the Department’s local office in Dunfermline had made 1,913 exceptionally cold weather payments, and the Kirkcaldy office had made 2,929.