The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Author: admin

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Wheelchair Service – 11 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Wheelchair Service on 11th February 1987.

    Mr. Carter-Jones Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will extend the wheelchair service to include the provision of occupant controlled outdoor powered wheelchairs; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major We are at present considering whether the Department’s wheelchair service should include the provision of dual purpose occupant controlled powered wheelchairs. Those considerations will include occupant controlled outdoor powered wheelchairs. I hope to be able to announce a decision in due course, together with other matters relating to the wheelchair service.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Disabled Persons – 11 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Disabled Persons on 11th February 1987.

    Mr. Carter-Jones Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the committees on which disabled people should be appointed according to section 10 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986.

    Mr. Major Section 10 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 will apply to the following committees:

    Social Security Advisory Committee.

    Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions.

    War Pensions Committees.

    Committees attached to bodies constituted under Section 10(2) of the Employment and Training Act 1973 or persons appointed to advise the Secretary of State under S5(2)(a) of that Act.

    Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee.

    Transport Users Consultative Committee.

    London Regional Passengers Committee.

    Advisory Committee on Telecommunications for Disabled and Elderly People.

    Gas Consumers Council.

    Electricity Consultative Councils.

    Post Office Users’ Councils.

    Domestic Coal Consumers’ Council.

    Any local authority committee concerned with matters in which chronically sick and disabled people have special needs.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions and Benefits – 11 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions and Benefits on 11th February 1987.

    Mr. Ashdown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will estimate the total amount of pensions and social security benefits unclaimed in the last year by persons entitled to such payments; if he has any information on the part played by inadequate skills of literacy and numeracy in such cases; what steps he has taken to overcome relevant difficulties that may be experienced by potential claimants; and if he will make a statement;
    (2) what information is available to his Department on the number of persons entitled to pension or social security benefit whose skills of literacy and numeracy are inadequate; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major The Department’s general policy is to allow the public to decide, on the basis of clearly stated advice, whether to claim benefits to which they may be entitled. A document design unit ensures that forms distributed nationally are expressed in a language which people with only limited literacy should understand – a fact recognised by the receipt of a number of Plain English awards. Contacts are maintained with 300 interested organizations – including adult literacy groups – which often provide valuable suggestions on document design.

    On a personal level, local office staff are trained to provide a sympathetic information service. This can be at the office, over the telephone or in the person’s own home. More general benefit advice and information is available through the Department’s freephone, supplemented by regular local media broadcasts.

    The Department spends about £6.5 million on media advice, publicity and leaflets. For child benefit and the major contributory benefits, such as retirement pension, it is thought that virtually everyone who is eligible receives the benefit and take-up of one parent benefit is also high amongst those that stand to gain.

    Respondents to the “Family Expenditure Survey”, from which estimates of unclaimed income-related benefits are obtained, are not asked questions relating to their literacy or numeracy, but there is some evidence to suggest that entitlements are less likely to be claimed when the amount is small. Take-up of supplementary benefit expenditure was 89 per cent. in 1983 implying £615 million was unclaimed. About £35 million in family income supplement went unclaimed in 1981.

    First estimates of housing benefit expenditure take-up and more recent estimates for family income supplement should be available shortly.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Planning Research – 11 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Planning Research on 11th February 1987.

    Mr. Madden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services pursuant to his Answer of 29 January, Official Report, column 373 concerning a study commissioned from Social and Community Planning Research, in what areas of the United Kingdom the pilot study has been carried out; and how much money has been allocated to pay for the full study.

    Mr. Major The sample for the pilot study was taken from people who became unemployed and signed on at the following unemployment benefit offices:

    Barnsley A
    Basildon A
    Bradford D
    Chatham B
    Farnborough
    Folkestone
    Forest Hill
    Kings Lynn
    Leeds B
    Liverpool Old Swan B
    Mexborough
    Maidenhead
    Maidstone
    Poplar B
    Rochdale
    Sandbach
    Selby
    Sheffield C
    Stalybridge
    St. Marylebone

    The estimated expenditure covering fieldwork, staffing and non-departmental computer costs for the full study for the four years, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, and 1989-90 is £356,500 (at 1986-87 prices).

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Climatic Variability – 10 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Climatic Variability on 10th February 1987.

    Mr. Wareing Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to implement the recommendations relating to his responsibilities in the report “Social and Economic Responses to Climatic Variability” al the United Kingdom.

    Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 27 January 1987, c. 233]: The report recommends that elderly people in danger from the cold should be made aware of the risks and sensible precautions publicised. The Health Education Council, funded by the Government, makes available each year, in conjunction with Age Concern, an information leaflet for elderly people containing simple, practical advice on keeping warm. The council has also recently launched a comprehensive pack of training and information materials on this subject for those in contact with elderly people. We believe that health and social services staff and voluntary organisations will find this initiative helpful. The report also recommends better targeting of the money available for heating additions. We believe that this will be achieved through the new income support scheme, which will provide help more directly through the premiums to those groups in greatest need. The new supplementary benefit exceptionally cold weather scheme also concentrates help on those most at risk from the cold, and on those parts of the country which are actually coldest.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits – 10 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits on 10th February 1987.

    Mr. Fatchett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in the Leeds metropolitan district council area have been in receipt of (a) supplementary benefit, (b) invalidity benefit and (c) housing benefit for each of the last five years.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Bath Additions – 10 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Bath Additions on 10th February 1987.

    Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he proposes to amend paragraph 4531 of the “S manual” to restrict bath additions for people in need of more than one bath a week; and if he will make a statement;
    (2) if he has any plans to restrict bath additions to people in need of more than one bath a week; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major Supplementary benefit legislation provides that additional supplementary benefit for baths is payable in respect of any person who on medical grounds needs more than one bath a week. There are no plans to amend that provision prior to the introduction of the new income support scheme. Guidance to the independent adjudication officers on the interpretation of the legislation is the responsibility of the chief adjudication officer. I understand that he is reviewing the guidance contained in paragraph 4531 of the “S manual”, in the light of recent advice that incontinence may not be medical grounds justifying additional benefit for baths within the terms of the legislation. He is awaiting decisions on two appeals to the Social Security Commissioners before considering whether to amend the “S manual”, but he has issued guidance based on the new advice in answer to individual enquiries from adjudication officers who are responsible for deciding entitlement on the facts of each case.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Social Security Budget – 10 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Social Security Budget on 10th February 1987.

    Mr. Kirkwood Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what have been the reductions in the social security budget since 1979 caused by the changes in the bases of calculation of various benefits.

    Mr. Major There have been a substantial number of changes to the benefit structure since 1979, some increasing and some decreasing expenditure. Because there was never a rigid set of rules for the uprating of benefits, it is not possible to say what expenditure would now have been, had these changes not been made, nor is it possible to assess the effect of individual changes in isolation.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Sheltered Accommodation – 10 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Sheltered Accommodation on 10th February 1987.

    Mr. Andrew Bowden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what regulations he proposes to make to render assistance to supplementary benefit recipients who are long-leaseholders of sheltered accommodation under the Social Security Act 1986.

    Mr. Major The proposed provisions for long-leaseholders under the Social Security Act 1986 will broadly mirror those in the present supplementary benefit and housing benefit schemes. We plan to lay the income support and housing benefit regulations in April this year for implementation in April 1988.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Heating Allowance – 10 February 1987

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Heating Allowance on 10th February 1987.

    Mr. Bill Walker Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of the number of pensioners in Scotland who are in receipt of heating allowance.

    Mr. Major In 1984, the latest year for which information is available, a total of 141,000 (1) supplementary pensioners in Scotland received a heating addition.

    (1) Source: 1984 Annual Statistical Inquiry (figure has been rounded to the nearest 1,000).