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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Severe Weather Payments on 28th November 1986.
Mr. Baldry Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the present formula for making extreme weather payments; whether he has any proposals to make changes to the formula; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) on 20 November, at columns 326-27. The current arrangements for exceptionally severe weather payments are described in the report on the new arrangements by the Social Security Advisory Committee (Cm. 18).
Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will explain why temperatures calculated for the exceptionally severe weather allowance for the Cowdenbeath area are to be calculated at Turnhouse airport.
Mr. Major National climatological message stations (NCMs) have been linked to local office areas in consultation with the Meteorological Office taking account of factors such as climatological conditions, the reliability of information produced and the speed with which information could be passed onto the Meteorological Office.
Meteorological data collected by the Turnhouse (Edinburgh Airport) NCM is considered to be the more representative of conditions in the area including Cowdenbeath area. This station is nearer to Cowdenbeath than the Tummel bridge station.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Heating Additions on 28th November 1986.
Mr. Baldry Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, when calculating the level of supplementary benefit, what specific consideration is given to heating costs; and how this is calculated.
Mr. Major The supplementary benefit scale rates are uprated in line with increases in the retail price index (excluding housing costs) which, among other things, reflects changes in fuel costs. Heating additions are reviewed separately against movements in the fuel element of the price index.
Mr. Leadbitter Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to (a) simplify the qualifying requirements for fuel allowances and (b) remove the average temperature level assessment, and establish the principle of direct payments for all retirement pensioners during the winter period.
Mr. Major This Government have simplified the system of weekly heating additions for supplementary benefit claimants by introducing automatic entitlement for certain groups, including householders aged 65 or over, long-term sick or disabled people, and families who have a child under five. These additions are paid throughout the year.
For payment in periods of exceptionally cold weather I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) on 20 November at columns 326-27.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Industrial Disablement Benefit on 27th November 1986.
Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the 100 per cent. disablement benefit awards made by special medical boards in 1984 were first awards as opposed to re-assessments; and how many were for asbestos-related diseases.
Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 24 November, c. 137-38]: In 1984 special medical boards made 210 initial assessments at 100 per cent., of which 202 were for asbestos-related diseases. There were 199 re-assessments at 100 per cent., of which 47 were for asbestos-related diseases.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Industrial Death Benefit on 27th November 1986.
Mr. Dobson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of deaths where the death certificate mentions mesothelioma result in awards of industrial death benefit.
Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 24 November, c. 138]: In 1984, the latest year for which figures are available, industrial death benefit was awarded in 39 per cent. of cases where mesothelioma was shown on the death certificate.