The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

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  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Residential Care Homes – 25 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Residential Care Homes on 25th February 1986.

    Mr. Corbyn Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of residents in private or voluntary care homes for the elderly are physically disabled.

    Mr. Major I regret that the information is not currently available. However, the Department is engaged in discussions with the local authorities with a view to introducing an improved data collection system. This will provide information on the number of persons in residential care by disability as well as by age.

  • Mr Major’s Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit – 25 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit on 25th February 1986.

    Mr. Favell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of the domestic ratepayers in (a) Liverpool, (b) Manchester, (c) Stockport and (d) England and Wales as a whole receive housing benefit.

    The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security (Mr. John Major) We estimate that in 1984-85 the proportion of ratepayers receiving a rate rebate in the four areas was approximately 50 per cent., 57 per cent., 31 per cent. and 35 per cent. respectively.

    Mr. Favell Does my hon. Friend agree that those figures demonstrate the desirability of a reform of the rating system on the lines outlined by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment?

    Mr. Major I concur with that point, as housing benefit now goes a long way up the income scale and many of us feel that it goes an undesirably long way up that scale.

    Mr. Eastham Do those figures project an idea to the Minister of the sheer poverty that is being experienced in some major cities? Is it not about time that there was a complete review of the benefits and subsidies that are a burden on the ratepayer? Ought they not to be a burden on the Government?

    Mr. Major The figures show that housing benefit now goes to one household in three, and that is a remarkable statistic. The benefit has doubled in real terms over the past five years and is still a substantial amount of money.

    Mr. Tony Lloyd The Minister said that 57 per cent. of ratepayers in Manchester receive housing benefit. Is that not, even for this Government, a shocking indictment showing the poverty level of wages in Manchester and the number of people who are dependent on state benefits and who have to claim housing benefit? Should not the Government be doing something about poverty in the urban areas?

    Mr. Major I am not sure to what extent the hon. Gentleman’s point arises directly from the main question. However, what clearly arises from the hon. Gentleman’s question and the answer is the extent to which housing benefit exists to help those people.

    Mrs. Beckett Does the Minister’s answer not show, first, how rents and poverty have increased under this Government; secondly, that the only way for someone to get housing benefit reasonably high up the income scale is if their rent is well above average; and, thirdly, how much damage will be caused by the proposal to make all such people pay 20 per cent. of their rates?

    Mr. Major I do not believe that any of those propositions is correct. Even after the changes in housing benefit, expenditure is still above the 1979 levels. Future proposals for local government finance are still under consultation and we must wait to see what emerges from them.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits (Claimants) – 24 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits (Claimants) on 24th February 1986.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons, registered for social security purposes as having no fixed address, and claiming benefits from local offices of his Department in (a) Cardiff and (b) Swansea, respectively, are former inpatients at mental hospitals.

    Mr. Major I regret that no information is available centrally on the number of persons claiming social security benefits at Cardiff and Swansea local offices who had no fixed address and were former in-patients at mental hospitals.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefit Payments – 21 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefit Payments on 21st February 1986.

    Mr. David Marshall Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in Scotland without full contribution records have received reduced national insurance benefit payments for each of the last five years; and what was the average payment for each year.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Specialist Claims Control – 20 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Specialist Claims Control on 20th February 1986.

    Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if specialist claims control officers are empowered to inquire into benefit payments to persons on supplementary pension, or persons on supplementary benefit who are disabled.

    Mr. Major Specialist claims control teams are empowered to investigate allegations of fraud in respect of all social security benefits.

    Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish his latest assessment of the amount of fraud detected by specialist claims control, showing the basis on which this figure is calculated.

    Mr. Major The estimated benefit savings achieved by specialist claims control teams in 1984-85 was £6-9 million. The basis for this calculation is set out in the statement and copy report of a Departmental study placed in the Library on 12 June of last year.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Westminster Local Office – 20 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Westminster Local Office on 20th February 1986.

    Mr. Loyden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the present arrangements for claimants at the Regency street, Victoria, office of his Department.

    Mr. Major There has been some welcome improvement in the arrangements for social security claimants at the Westminster integrated local office in the past year. The arrangements for provision of benefit in the Central London area are currently under review, with the intention of making further improvements in the service to claimants.

    Mr. Loyden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what complaints he has had from hon. and right hon. Members about the Regency street, Victoria, office of his Department.

    Mr. Major In the past year we have received seven letters of complaint from right hon. and hon. Members about Westminster local office. Two have been about the quality of service provided by the local office and five have concerned individual cases.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits (Knowsley) – 20 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits (Knowsley) on 20th February 1986.

    Mr. Sean Hughes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons aged 16, 17 and 18 years, respectively, are presently claiming (a) supplementary and (b) other unemployment benefit in the borough of Knowsley.

    Mr. Major The table shows the number of people aged 16, 17 and 18 respectively claiming unemployment benefit in the borough of Knowsley at 9 January 1986 – the latest figures available.

    Age | Number Claiming Unemployment Benefit

    16 | 246

    17 | 898

    18 | 1,150

    I regret that similar information is not available for persons claiming supplementary benefit.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments – 19 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments on 19th February 1986.

    Mr. Meadowcroft Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report comparable statistics on the total amount paid out in single payments to claimants in different areas, based on the smallest convenient geographical areas, and on the most recent convenient dates.

    Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 10 February 1986, c. 364–5]: The table giving the information requested by the hon. Member has now been placed in the Library.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Age – 18 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Age on 18th February 1986.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table indicating his estimates of the additional annual cost to Government funds on areas within his responsibility if the retirement age for (a) men and (b) women were reduced in 12-month steps from their present level to a uniform retirement age of 55 years of age.

    Mr. Major No figures are available to show the estimated additional cost of reducing the retirement age to below age 60 for men, nor are any figures available to show the estimated additional cost of reducing the retirement age for women to below the present retirement age of 60. The net estimated additional annual cost to public funds of reducing the retirement age for men from age 65 to age 60 is as follows:

    Reduction in retirement age to: | Estimated additional annual cost (rounded) in £ million

    64 | 400

    63 | 900

    62 | 1,400

    61 | 1,900

    60 | 2,600

    These figures also take account of the increase in tax revenue which could result from a change.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions – 18 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions on 18th February 1986.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the weekly rate of retirement pension on 1 December of each year since 1956, in actual and in real terms at current prices; and what proportion the figures represented each year of average industrial wages for adult men.

    Mr. Major The available figures are contained in table 5.1 of the “Abstract of Statistics for Index of Retail Prices, Average Earnings, Social Security Benefits and Contributions”, a copy of which may be found in the Library. The dates for which comparisons are shown are those on which retirement pensions were uprated, which is the most meaningful basis for real value comparisons.

    Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the annual cost if the state retirement pension for single persons were increased from the present level to £56 per week, and for married couples from the present level to £84 per week.

    Mr. Major The estimated annual additional cost of this proposal to public expenditure is £6,250 million in a full year, allowing for savings on supplementary benefit and housing benefit.