The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

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  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Rents – 14 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Rents on 14th April 1986.

    Mr. Alton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many tenants in receipt of housing benefit have had their rents registered with the rent officer.

    Mr. Major No information is available on the number of tenants in receipt of housing benefit whose rents are registered.

    Mr. Alton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what measures he has taken to ensure that rents levied from tenants in receipt of housing benefit have been registered with the rent officer.

    Mr. Major Where there is a regulated tenancy, the local authority may apply to the rent officer for the registration of a fair rent. This is a matter for the authority concerned but it is not expected to apply for a rent to be registered simply because a claim for housing benefit has been made.

    Authorities also have the power under the housing benefit scheme to restrict the amount of rent eligible for benefit in certain circumstances if the local authority consider the rent is unreasonably high or the accommodation is unreasonably expensive.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Unemployment Benefit – 14 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Unemployment Benefit on 14th April 1986.

    Mr. Marlow Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what studies he carries out into the numbers of persons drawing unemployment benefit who are classed as suitable and competent to obtain available employment but who are not actively seeking to do so.

    Mr. Major The Department has not carried out any studies specifically into the extent to which unemployed benefit claimants are actively seeking work but a considerable volume of information on this subject is available from some more general studies. I would draw my hon. Friend’s attention in particular to the report on the DHSS cohort study of unemployed men, “For Richer, For Poorer?” (pages 40 to 43) and to the report on some aspects of the labour force survey (Employment Gazette for October 1985, pages 393 and 396), copies of which are in the Library.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions and Benefits – 14 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions and Benefits on 14th April 1986.

    Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been (a) the single person’s pension, (b) the married couple’s pension and (c) supplementary benefit scale rates for (i) a single person and (ii) a married couple as a proportion of national average earnings each year since 1979; and what information he has on comparable figures in France, Germany, the United States of America, Sweden, Italy and Belgium.

    Mr. Major Details of the rates of benefit and the amount of such rates expressed as a proportion of national average earnings are contained in the “Abstract of Statistics for Index of Retail Prices, Average Earnings, Social Security Benefits and Contributions” (tables 5.1, 5.6 and 5.7) a copy of which is in the Library.

    Such information as is available regarding benefits in France, Germany, Italy and Belgium is contained in the Department’s annual publication “Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the Member States of the European Communities, Portugal and Spain”. Copies are held in the Library for each year since 1973. I regret that information is not available which would enable reliable comparisons to be made to the national average wage in each member state of the European Community.

    For information on benefit levels in the United States of America, I refer the hon. Member to the Social Security Bulletin of January 1986, Vol. 49, No. 1, page 74, as issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Information regarding Sweden as at 1 July 1984 is contained in the Council of Europe publication “Comparative Tables of the Social Security Systems in Council of Europe Member States not belonging to the European Communities”. Copies of both publications are in the Library. I regret that there is no information readily available regarding Sweden for earlier years.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 14 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 14th April 1986.

    Mr. Wareing Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of supplementary benefit claimants at the Westminster office of his Department in Regency street, London, are normally permanently resident in (a) Liverpool and (b) Merseyside; what are the numbers involved; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major I regret this information is not available.

    Mr. Leighton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children in the London borough of Newham are in families on supplementary benefit now; and what were the comparable figures in 1979.

    Mr. Major In the year ended December 1984, the latest for which information is available, there were approximately 13,000 children in families on supplementary benefit in the London borough of Newham. A comparable figure for 1979 is not available.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Board and Lodging – 14 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Board and Lodging on 14th April 1986.

    Mr. Kirkwood Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of outstanding appeals involving the elderly and disabled in receipt of board and lodgings assistance; and from which areas they come.

    Mr. Major The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Income-Related Assistance – 14 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income-Related Assistance on 14th April 1986.

    Sir Brandon Rhys Williams Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current total number of people in Great Britain dependent on income-related assistance; and what is his estimate of the number that will be dependent on income-related assistance in 1988 and 1990.

    Mr. Major I regret the precise information requested is not available. The latest estimate of the number of people wholly or partly dependent on the main income-related benefits relates to 1983 when an estimated 14 million people were living in families receiving supplementary benefit, housing benefit or family income supplement. This estimate is derived from family expenditure survey data for 1983 and therefore excludes persons not living in private households.

    No firm estimates are available for 1988 or 1990, but on the basis of the illustrative rates quoted in Cmnd. 9691 it is estimated that the average numbers in 1988 receiving benefit will increase by around 200,000 in the case of family credit because of substantial improvements over FIS, remain broadly the same for income support and that somewhat over 750,000 fewer householders will receive housing benefit. This assumes a 20 per cent. minimum rates contribution but does not take account of any households excluded from housing benefit through the proposed capital rules.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits – 10 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits on 10th April 1986.

    Mr. Boyes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much a single 22-year-old male (a) living with parents and (b) living in a council flat received in benefit if he was unemployed on 1 April in each year between 1979 and 1986; and if he will express these payments in real terms, taking 100 as the base for 1 April 1979.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 10 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 10th April 1986.

    Mr. Wareing Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many supplementary benefit appeals are outstanding in the Merseyside region; to what extent the number of tribunal sittings has increased; and if he will make a statement on the current position.

    Mr. Major At the end of March 1985, the latest date for which national statistics are available, there were 5,216 supplementary benefit appeals in the north-western region which had been lodged but not yet heard by a tribunal. The local DHSS offices had forwarded submissions to the tribunal clerk in respect of 3,854 of these appeals. I understand that since then the number of tribunal sittings has been increased and are now running at some 130 sittings a week in the region. The president of Social Security Appeal Tribunals is responsible for the administration of these tribunals, and any further information may be obtained from his office.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the London South Region – 10 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the London South Region on 10th April 1986.

    Mr. Barnett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table setting out the percentage annual turnover of staff in each office of his Department located in the London south region for the latest year for which figures are available and the three previous years.

    Mr. Major The detailed information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The following is the breakdown of percentage of total staff in the grades of clerical assistant, local officer I and local officer II who left the Department or the London south region (including those who retired) by office, for the year ending 30 September 1985, and a regional summary of the percentage of leavers in the same grades for the three years 1983, 1984 and 1985.

    1 October 1984–30 September 1985

    Office | Leavers per cent.

    Aldershot BO | 16.15

    Aldershot ILO | 24.44

    Andover ILO | 10.91

    Ashford ILO | 20.34

    Balham ILO | 15.13

    Basingstoke ILO | 15.75

    Battersea ILO | 22.56

    Bexley ILO | 13.70

    Bloomsbury AO | 49.25

    Bognor Regis ILO | 17.14

    Bracknell ILO | 22.34

    Brighton ILO | 15.18

    Brixton ILO | 17.91

    Broadstairs BO | 10.16

    Bromley ILO | 20.67

    Camberwell AO | 28.42

    Canterbury AO | 9.09

    Canterbury NIO | 9.46

    Chatham ILO | 10.71

    Chelsea ILO | 16.67

    Chichester ILO | 12.50

    City NIO | 19.40

    Crawley ILO | 16.09

    Croydon ILO | 21.76

    Croydon LAAO | 27.10

    Crystal Palace ILO | 29.36

    Dartford ILO | 12.65

    Dover ILO | 9.87

    Eastbourne ILO | 17.06

    Eltham AO | 38.64

    Eltham NIO | 8.00

    Epsom ILO | 34.76

    Fareham ILO | 10.71

    Folkestone ILO | 12.67

    Gravesend ILO 16.44

    Greenwich Park ILO | 20.86

    Greenwich West AO | 23.81

    Guildford ILO | 29.20

    Hastings ILO | 15.45

    Havant AO | 9.15

    Havant NIO | 8.33

    Haywards Heath NIO | 11.54

    Hounslow ILO | 14.37

    Hove ILO | 11.36

    Kennington AO | 24.10

    Kennington Park ILO | 10.47

    Kensington ILO | 17.80

    Kingston ILO | 18.18

    Lewes ILO | 24.26

    Lewisham ILO | 13.04

    Littlehampton NIO | 17.65

    Maidstone ILO | 10.17

    Morden AO | 15.79

    Newbury ILO | 20.90

    New Forest ILO | 19.10

    Newport (IOW) ILO | 5.61

    Orpington ILO | 15.43

    Peckham ILO | 11.02

    Portsmouth ILO | 11.36

    Portsmouth CONTS | 18.18

    Reading ILO | 30.48

    Redhill ILO | 21.11

    Richmond NIO | 4.35

    Rochester AO | 10.23

    Sittingbourne ILO | 9.88

    Slough ILO | 30.30

    Southampton LAAO | 20.29

    Southampton ILO | 12.67

    Southwark ILO | 21.67

    Streatham ILO | 13.72

    Surbiton AO | 38.75

    Sutton AO | 26.67

    Sutton NIO | 25.00

    Thames South AO | 22.41

    Thanet ILO | 14.12

    Twickenham ILO | 26.25

    Tunbridge Wells ILO | 16.07

    Wandsworth ILO | 21.36

    West End NIO | 25.40

    Westminster ILO | 9.28

    Wimbledon AO | 31.67

    Wimbledon NIO | 50.00

    Winchester ILO | 18.06

    Woking ILO | 21.10

    Woolwich ILO | 16.29

    Worthing ILO | 13.31

    Abbreviations: ILO – Integrated Local Office; AO – Area Office; NIO – National Insurance Office; BO – Benefits Office; LAAO – Legal Aid Assessment Office; CONTS – Contributions.

    Regional Summary 1983–85

    Year | Leavers per cent.

    1983 | 16.08

    1984 | 14.53

    1985 | 18.62

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Computers and Software – 9 April 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Computers and Software on 9th April 1986.

    Mr. Ashdown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy on the purchase for the use of his Department or the recommendation for use in departmental establishments of computers or software which are subject to extra-territorial constraints as to their use, movement or resale or export; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency acts as contractual agent for almost all computer equipment purchased by the DHSS. The exceptions are generally minor hardware items worth less than £5,000, and software items worth less than £500.
    Decisions about the purchase of these minor items are made on the basis of all the relevant circumstances at the time. This Department does not recognise the extraterritorial claim to jurisdiction implicit in the United States export control laws.