The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

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  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Pensioners (Earnings) – 1 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensioners (Earnings) on 1st December 1986.

    Mr. Stern Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list, for each year since 1978, the maximum weekly permitted earnings of a married pensioner aged between 65 and 70 years before commencement of clawback of the pension.

    Mr. Major The earnings limit applying to all male pensioners between 65 and 69 in the uprating month in each year is given in the table.

    Date | £

    November 1978 | 45
    November 1979 | 52
    November 1980 | 52
    November 1981 | 52
    November 1982 | 57
    November 1983 | 65
    November 1984 | 70
    November 1985 | 75
    July 1986 | 75

    Female pensioners are subject to these earnings limits between ages 60 and 64, but no earnings limit applies to pensioners of either sex from five years after minimum pension age.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 1 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 1st December 1986.

    Mr. J. Enoch Powell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pending legislation, he will authorise the extra-statutory concession, corresponding with Northern Ireland circular 522/86 and providing continuity of supplementary benefit at the long-term rate for beneficiaries who have removed from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

    Mr. Major My right hon. Friend has already authorised extra-statutory payments. I refer the right hon. Member to circular S22/86, a copy of which is in the Library.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance – 1 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance on 1st December 1986.

    Mr. Ashdown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the latest available figures for those class 2 national insurance contributors who are also class 1 secondary national insurance contributors; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major I regret that the information requested by the hon. Member cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments – 1 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 1st December 1986.

    Mr. Blair Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list those areas in the north-east and Cumbria which have experienced weekly average temperatures below -1.5°C. in 1985–86; if he will list the number of weeks such temperatures were experienced; and what estimate he has made of the amount of money involved in severe weather payments to these areas: (a) under his present system of exceptionally severe weather payments and (b) under his proposed system;
    (2) if he will list those areas in Scotland which have experienced weekly average temperatures below -1.5°C. in 1985-86; if he will list the number of weeks such temperatures were experienced; and what is his estimate of the amount of money involved in severe weather payments to these areas (a) under the present system of exceptionally severe weather payments and (b) under his proposed system.

    Mr. Major Details of the areas in which exceptionally cold weather payments would have been made under the proposed new criteria last winter are contained in annex C to the report published by the Social Security Advisory Committee on these proposals (Cm. 18), and annex B to the Secretary of State’s statement published with that report.

    Payments actually made by the Department’s local offices in the north-east of England and Cumbria last winter totalled approximately £2 million. Final figures are awaited from some local offices in Scotland, but the provisional total for local offices for which returns have so far been received is approximately £1.9 million. It is not possible to make a reliable estimate of what expenditure would have been under the proposed new rules last winter since this would depend on claimants’ capital holdings and take-up in the areas concerned.

    Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the average annual expenditure over a five-year period on the proposed cold weather payments.

    Mr. Major It is not sensible to make projections for the future since the crucial factor – the weather – cannot be predicted. Nor is it possible to make valid retrospective assessment, since amounts paid would depend on claimants’ capital holdings and take-up in the attached areas. However, our intention and expectation is that, over the years, the new system implies help on broadly the same scale as has operated in the years since 1980.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Restart Scheme – 1 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Restart Scheme on 1st December 1986.

    Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects to answer the letter from the hon. Member for Birkenhead of 19 November concerning the Government’s restart scheme.

    Mr. Major I replied to the letter on 28 November.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Income Support – 1 December 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income Support on 1st December 1986.

    Mr. Robin Cook Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will state his estimate of the numbers likely to be eligible for the additional premium on income support for the severely disabled.

    Mr. Major We are re-examining our estimate in the light of comments made by organisations representing disabled people. I shall write to the hon. Member when this work is complete.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Asbestos – 28 November 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Asbestos on 28th November 1986.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many awards of industrial death benefit were made in 1985 for (a) asbestosis, (b) diffuse mesothelioma, (c) lung cancer accompanied by asbestosis and (d) lung cancer without asbestosis.

    Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 24 November c.138]: The information is as follows:

    Awards of industrial death benefit in 1985 | Number

    (a) Asbestosis | 71
    (b) Diffuse mesothelioma | 196
    (c) Lung cancer accompanied by asbestosis | 0
    (d) Lung cancer without asbestosis | 0

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Special Medical Boards – 28 November 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Special Medical Boards on 28th November 1986.

    Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions hon. and right hon. Members have written to him about individual findings of the special medical boards in 1985.

    Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 24 November c. 135]: Hon. and right hon. Members wrote to Ministers on this subject on nine occasions in 1985.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the RADR – 28 November 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the RADR on 28th November 1986.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much money Her Majesty’s Government have made available to the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation in each of the past seven years.

    Mr. Major The total amount provided to the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation by Government Departments for each financial year since 1979–80 is as follows:

    Year | £

    1979-80 | 229,000
    1980-81 | 266,500
    1981-82 | 302,600
    1982-83 | 246,500
    1983-84 | 257,000
    1984-85 | 261,000
    1985-86 | 259,000

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Redundancy Pay – 28 November 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Redundancy Pay on 28th November 1986.

    Mr. Geoffrey Robinson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will consider a revision of his Department’s regulation 9(2) (a) concerning redundancy pay.

    Mr. Major Lump sum redundancy payments are treated as capital for supplementary benefit purposes and are not affected by regulation 9(2)(a) of the Supplementary Benefit (Resources) Regulations 1981 (SI. 1981 No. 1527) which covers the treatment of earnings and other income. Future arrangements for the income support scheme are currently under consideration.