The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

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  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Cards – 16 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Cards on 16th December 1986.

    Mr. Holt Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans his Department has to reintroduce national insurance cards.

    Mr. Major The Department currently issues plastic national insurance number cards and, for self-employed people and voluntary contributors who pay national insurance contributions weekly, national insurance stamp cards. There are no plans to introduce other cards.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Disabled People – 15 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Disabled People on 15th December 1986.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when it is intended that the survey of disability presently under way will be completed; when the proposed subsequent review of social security provisions for disabled people is planned to start and to finish; when the results of that review will be presented to Parliament; and when the subsequent new arrangements are expected to come into force.

    Mr. Major Publication by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys of the results of its current survey of disabled people is expected in 1988. It is too early to give a timetable for the review of social security benefits for disabled people and for subsequent action.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme – 15 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme on 15th December 1986.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was his Department’s original estimate of the savings to be made by the introduction of the time limit on the vaccine damage payments scheme.

    Mr. Major None. The six-year time limit on claims was included in the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 because of the difficulty of considering claims older than this. But the time limit was not brought into effect until 9 May 1984 in order to give everyone who had suffered vaccine damage since 1948 the opportunity of making a claim.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give, for each year since the introduction of the vaccine damage payments scheme, the number of awards given under the scheme; and what was the number of claims rejected each year.

    Mr. Major The information requested is set out in the following table:

    Year | Awards | Rejections

    1979 | 349 | 2,199
    1980 | 255 | 150
    1981 | 74 | 71
    1982 | 43 | 54
    1983 | 42 | 107
    1984 | 29 | 124
    1985 | 26 | 75
    1986 (1) | 14 | 64

    Total | (2) 832 | (2) 2,838

    (1) To 14 November.
    (2) Includes 432 cases originally rejected but subsequently awarded by a Vaccine Damage Tribunal.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his Department’s estimate of the total number of people severely disabled within the meaning of the Vaccine Damage Payments Act; and what is the estimate for the number less severely damaged as a result of vaccination.

    Mr. Major 832 awards have been made on the basis that vaccine damage resulted in severe disablement and there have also been 14 claims involving vaccine damage which were rejected because disablement was not severe. A further 1,637 claims involved severe disablement but were rejected because disablement was not a result of vaccine damage, and in a further 326 rejected claims the cause of disablement was not investigated because disablement was substantially less than severe.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his Department’s estimate of the additional cost of making payments available, on a sliding scale, to everyone disabled as a result of vaccination.

    Mr. Major I regret there is insufficient information for any reliable estimates to be made.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Lung Cancer (Report) – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Lung Cancer (Report) on 12th December 1986.

    Mr. Norris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council’s report on occupational lung cancer is to be published; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council’s report on occupational lung cancer is published today. It recommends the prescription of lung cancer in three groups of workers, namelythose exposed to a chemical known as bis (chloromethyl) ether (BCME) produced during the manufacture of chloromethyl methyl ether (CMME) those exposed to the dust of zinc chromate, calcium chomate and strontium chromate tin miners

    The Government accept the council’s recommendations, and regulations will be laid to bring them into operation next year.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Blind-Deaf Persons – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Blind-Deaf Persons on 12th December 1986.

    Mrs. Renée Short Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many blind-deaf children are born each year; how many schools in England and Wales can at present offer suitable education for blind-deaf children either on a day or boarding basis; and what support for families is available when a deaf-blind child is living at home;
    (2) what special training is available for teachers and carers, respectively, working with deaf-blind children; and what proposals he has to make such provision freely available for all those who need it;
    (3) what training is available at present for young people who are deaf-blind to enable them to develop their skills; and if he will list the training centres at present available with the number of places in each;
    (4) if he will make sufficient resources available to ensure that no blind-deaf person will have to enter a mental handicap hospital if his family can no longer care for him at home.

    Mr. Major Statistics are not available in the form requested but there is a copy in the Library of the Department’s publication “Registered Blind and Partially Sighted Persons at 31 March 1982 (England).” This contains information, by age band, on people registered blind with additional handicap, including hearing impairment, but the figures are regarded as under-estimates.

    The Department has made it clear in guidance issued to health and local authorities, which are the main statutory providers of services for disabled people, that services for the most vulnerable groups in the community, including sensorily impaired people, should have priority. It is for individual health and local authorities to determine local priorities in the light of their statutory responsibilities and local circumstances. The Department does not routinely collect specific information about resources and facilities provided for particular client groups.

    The role of voluntary organisations, such as SENSE, with their family resource centres and training centre for deaf-blind young adults, is of particular importance. Last year the Department gave grants totalling £30,000 towards voluntary activities in this field and further applications are under consideration.

    Education and teacher training are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 12th December 1986.

    Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will update the table on page 4 of the proposals for regulations to provide a new scheme of supplementary benefit for exceptionally severe weather payments (CM 18) in the light of the decision by his Department to re-locate a number of weather stations.

    Mr. Major Three changes have been made to the table. Tummel bridge and Cranwell stations have been deleted, and a new station (Kirkwall) has been added. The number of years since 1979 when the mean weekly temperature recorded at the Kirkwall station reached or was lower than minus 1.5 deg Celsius is nil.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Mr & Mrs J Hemborough – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Mr & Mrs J Hemborough on 12th December 1986.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on what date the case of Mr. and Mrs. J. Hemborough was referred to him by his Department’s office; on what date a decision was made on this case; and if he will make a statement on the Government’s position following the supplementary benefit commissioner’s decision R(SB) 21/85 concerning the restriction of interest payments to claimants who have remortgaged their homes.

    Mr. Major I shall write to the hon. Member.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Blind People – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Blind People on 12th December 1986.

    Mr. Carter-Jones Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what bodies he has consulted in his Department’s review of form BD8 for blind people;
    (2) what progress has been made in the review of form BD8;
    (3) when the review of form BD8 began; and when he expects to be able to announce conclusions;
    (4) what representations and recommendations he has received from the Royal National Institute for the Blind about the review of the form BD8.

    Mr. Major In August 1983 we issued a consultation document to the relevant statutory, professional and voluntary bodies, including the Royal National Institute for the Blind, which have since pressed for a decision. Work is proceeding within the Department and we will announce a decision as soon as possible. The full list of organisations consulted is:

    Association for the Education and Welfare of the Visually Handicapped
    Association of County Councils
    Association of Directors of Social Services
    Association of District Medical Officers
    Association of Metropolitan Authorities
    Association of Nurse Administrators
    Association of Optical Practitioners
    British Association of Social Workers
    British College of Ophthalmic Opticians
    British Medical Association, General Medical Services Committee
    British Medical Association, Ophthalmic Group Committee
    British Paediatrics Association
    Community Medicine Consultative Committee
    Disabled Living Foundation
    Faculty of Ophthalmologists
    Health Visitors Association
    Hospital for Sick Children Special Health Authority
    Joint Consultants Committee
    London Boroughs Association
    Medical Research Council
    Moorfields Eye Hospital Special Health Authority
    National Association of Orientation and Mobility Instructors
    National Association of Technical Officers for the Blind
    National Federation of the Blind
    National League of the Blind and Disabled
    North Regional Association for the Blind
    Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
    Partially Sighted Society
    Regional Health Authorities
    Residential Care Association
    Royal College of General Practitioners
    Royal College of Nursing
    Royal National Institute for the Blind
    Society of Nurse Advisers (Child Health)
    Southern and Western Regional Association for the Blind
    Visual Impairment Association

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Sick Pay – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Sick Pay on 12th December 1986.

    Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate (a) the gross and (b) the net cost of paying statutory sick pay at 100 per cent. of earnings for (i) six weeks and (ii) three months.

    Mr. Major The gross costs requested are estimated as (i) £2.5 billion and (ii) £2.75 billion. On each of these amounts employees would pay approximately £1 billion in income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs). However, an unknown proportion of this revenue would replace tax and NIC already payable on occupational sick pay schemes. It is therefore not possible to calculate the extra revenue with sufficient reliability to produce worthwhile estimates of net cost. The estimated cost of SSP in 1986-87 is £688 million.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the RCP Report – 12 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the RCP Report on 12th December 1986.

    Mrs. Renée Short Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what response he has sent to the Royal College of Physicians’ report to him on physical disability in 1986; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major My right hon. Friend did not commission the report and has not been invited formally to respond to it. We nevertheless welcome the report, which will make an important contribution to the discussion of how services for disabled people can be better co-ordinated and integrated. Officials of the Department have had informal discussions with the report’s authors, and we are now considering how best to develop the ideas which it has put forward.