Category: 1983-1987 Parliament

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 19th February 1987.

Dr. Godman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons received exceptionally severe weather payments in (a) Scotland, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Greenock and Port Glasgow in each of the categories of those persons entitled to such payments; what was the amount of money paid to each category; and what was the average payment made.

Mr. Major Information on the number of exceptionally cold weather payments made to persons in each of the categories is not available.
Statistics are being maintained on the total number of exceptionally cold weather payments made, the amount of those payments and the number refused, and will be published in due course.

Dr. Godman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give an estimate of the numbers of persons in (a) Scotland, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Greenock and Port Glasgow in each of the categories of those persons entitled to claim exceptionally severe weather payments.

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

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Deaf People on 18th February 1987.

Dr. Cunningham Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is able to announce his decision in respect of the application for funding by the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People.

Mr. Major This application is receiving full consideration following a recent meeting between officials and the chairman and director of the council. We shall announce our decision as soon as possible.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Board and Lodging Allowances on 18th February 1987.

Mr. Pike Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how much his Department is paying to persons living in (a) Burnley and (b) Pendle for board and lodging allowances;
(2) how many people living in (a) Burnley and (b) Pendle are (i) single persons under 26 years, (ii) single persons over 26 years, (iii) married couples without children and (iv) married couples with children, and are receiving board and lodging payments.

Mr. Major I regret that the information requested is not collected by individual local offices and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Heating Additions on 17th February 1987.

Mr. Wilson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in 1984 were in receipt of a heating addition in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales; and what was the total expenditure in each country on heating additions.

Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 20 January 1987, c. 539]: The information requested about the number of people receiving heating additions in 1984 is as follows:

Country | Number in receipt (1)
England | 2,376
Scotland | 281
Wales | 170

Source: “1984 Annual Statistical Enquiry”.
(1) To the nearest 1,000.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits on 17th February 1987.

Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will indicate for all welfare and national insurance benefits and allowances, the percentage change in value each year since 1979, and the comparable change in national average earnings for each of those years.

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

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalid Care Allowance on 17th February 1987.

Mr. Hardy Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services by what date he expects the processing of claims for invalid care allowance by married women to be completed; and what proportion of such claims have now been dealt with.

Mr. Major As at 13 February, some 103,000 claims to invalid care allowance had been received from married women of which about 47,000 had been decided. The remainder, which are at various stages of processing and include cases where further information is awaited from claimants, will be cleared as soon as possible. The question implies a final date for clearance of all claims to invalid care allowance from married women, but because claims are still coming in and will continue to do so for the indefinite future, no such date can be set.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Heating Allowance on 17th February 1987.

Mr. Bill Walker Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of the total number of supplementary benefit recipients who were in receipt of heating allowance in 1984; and how many of them were paid the maximum allowance.

Mr. Major A total of 2,829,000 supplementary benefit claimants were in receipt of a heating addition in 1984. The maximum standard heating addition payable is the estate rate heating addition for a dwelling with five or more rooms. In 1984, 10,000 such additions were in payment.

Source: “Annual Statistical Enquiry 1984.”

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income Replacement on 17th February 1987.

Mr. Alfred Morris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each country in the European community in the last year for which figures are available the proportion of his previous earnings an insured person with average earnings would receive from statutory income replacement schemes, whether administered by Government or another body (a) during the first six months of incapacity for work, (b) during incapacity for work which has lasted between six and 12 months, (c) during incapacity for work which has lasted more than 12 months, (d) during the first six months of unemployment and (e) on retirement at the normal retirement age in each country.

Mr. Major Most income replacement schemes on the continent of Europe are on an earnings-related basis and the figures requested by the right hon. Member are contained in the DHSS publication, “Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the European Communities (Position at 1 January 1986)”, a copy of which is in the Library.

The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands operate mainly flat rate income replacement schemes, so that the replacement rate will vary between high and low earners. The figures for the United Kingdom for a person on average earnings are given in section 5 of “Abstract of Statistics for Index of Retail Prices, Average Earnings, Social Security Benefits and Contributions” – August 1986, a copy of which is also in the Library. Comparable weekly earnings figures for Ireland and the Netherlands are not readily available.

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pension Schemes on 16th February 1987.

Mr. Wigley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that the profits that accumulate in a pension fund, held for the benefit of employees, can only be used for the direct benefit of those employees, and not appropriated for other uses by the company or by the trustees in charge of the pension scheme.

Mr. Major Trust law already requires the trustees of pension schemes to act in the members’ best interests. The powers to tax pension fund surpluses which last year’s Finance Act gives to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer provides a powerful incentive for schemes to use surpluses to reduce contributions or enhance benefits.