The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Category: 1983-1987 Parliament

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit – 10 July 1986

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

    Mr. Raynsford Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East of 25 June, Official Report, columns 209-10, which of the objectives for the revised housing benefit subsidy arrangements were considered by his Department not to be met by the proposal to restrict direct subsidy to 80 per cent. of benefit expenditure.

    Mr. Major As I explained in my reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East (Mr. Nellist), the proposal to include 20 per cent. of benefit costs in the rate support grant arrangements did not meet our objectives of providing an adequate incentive for authorities to control costs and a fair level of support for expenditure they properly incur.

    Mr. Alton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list in the Official Report a borough breakdown of moneys paid to landlords on behalf of public and private tenants in housing benefit during 1985-86; and if he will make a statement;
    (2) what is the highest individual weekly sum currently paid to a landlord in housing benefit;
    (3) what percentage of the sum paid in housing benefit during 1985-86 was paid to private landlords;
    (4) how many domestic hereditaments owned by private landlords house tenants in receipt of housing benefits.

    Mr. Major We do not collect information on direct payments of housing benefit to landlords, or on the number of dwellings owned by private landlords which are occupied by tenants in receipt of housing benefit. In 1985-86, an estimated £780 million was paid in rent allowances (including those paid direct to the landlord, but excluding in all cases any expenditure classified as rate rebates) for around 1.2 million private tenants. This represented about 17 per cent. of total housing benefit expenditure.

    Mr. Alton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he intends to send a reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill, of 15 May on housing benefit and to which he said on 2 July, Official Report, column 1040, he had signed a reply.

    Mr. Major I have written to the hon. Member.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Families – 10 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Families on 10th July 1986.

    Mr. Squire Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he plans to publish the 1983 low income families tables.

    Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Kensington (Sir B. Rhys Williams) on 8 July.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Pensions – 10 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Pensions on 10th July 1986.

    Mr. Andrew Bowden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has of the additional annual cost of paying the level of retirement pension’ payable in the United Kingdom to British retirement and widowed pensioners aged 75 years and over living in all those territories not covered by a reciprocal agreement with the United Kingdom.

    Mr. Major The additional cost of paying pensions at today’s rates for a full year to all British retirement and widowed pensioners aged 75 years and over living in countries with which the United Kingdom does not have a reciprocal agreement providing for pension increases is estimated to be approximately £46.4 million.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Captain Balnave – 9 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Captain Balnave on 9th July 1986.

    Mr. Hancock Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when his Department will expedite the payment to Captain Balnave of 23 Malvern Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, awarded to him on appeal.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on War Pensions – 8 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on War Pensions on 8th July 1986.

    Mr. Ashley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in what way, and for how long, the war pensions are affected of a person in receipt of (a) a war disability and (b) war retirement pension, who is sent to prison.

    Mr. Major Payments of war disablement pension are normally suspended during imprisonment following conviction. If the war pensioner is married, half the basic pension plus the dependency allowance is normally paid to his wife. On release the pension is usually restored and arrears of one year’s basic pension (or arrears for the period of imprisonment if less than a year) are paid, less any amount paid to his wife during the arrears period.

    I assume that by “war retirement pension” the right hon. Member has in mind service pensions and service retired pay. These are not part of the war pensions provisions, but are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. I understand that his normal practice is to allow pensioners to retain these pensions during imprisonment.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Staff (Birkenhead) – 8 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Staff (Birkenhead) on 8th July 1986.

    Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of staff in each of the Birkenhead offices of his Department; if he will distinguish between the complement of staff allowed and the number of staff actually in post; and if he will make a statement on what changes he plans in the size of the staff over the coming year.

    Mr. Major The number of staff allocated, and the number of staff in post, on 1 July 1986 for each of the Birkenhead offices is as follows: (ILO = Integrated Local Office]

    Office | Staff Allocation | Staff in Post
    Birkenhead (North) ILO | 202 | *191
    Birkenhead (South) ILO | 126 | 126.5

    * 200 anticipated by 1st August.
    There are no current plans to change the number of staff allocated to these offices over the coming year.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Families – 8 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Families on 8th July 1986.

    Sir Brandon Rhys Williams Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the reasons for the further delay in publishing the 1983 low income families tables.

    Mr. Major The reasons for the delay include the delayed start in the processing of the data from which the tables are derived and technical difficulties in connection with ensuring consistency with earlier figures in the series, for example, arising from the introduction of MIRAS and housing benefit in 1983. The tables will be published shortly.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments – 8 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments on 8th July 1986.

    Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on what action he proposes to take to reduce the backlog of claims for single payments in Scotland.

    Mr. Major There has been an increase in single payment claims in Scotland recently resulting from a number of “take-up” campaigns being mounted by local authorities and other agencies. Extra staff are being deployed on this work.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Rate Rebates – 7 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Rate Rebates on 7th July 1986.

    Mr. John Fraser Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how he accounts for the change in the number of persons receiving rate rebates in Lambeth from 63,000 as given in his answer of 14 June 1985, Official Report, column 586, to 36,378 as given in his answer of 25 June 1986, Official Report, column 213.

    Mr. Major I refer the hon. Member to the responsible authority for information about changes in the number of people receiving rate rebates in Lambeth. However I understand that Lambeth’s recent case load estimates do not reflect the number of outstanding claims likely to be successful.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Ombudsman – 7 July 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Ombudsman on 7th July 1986.

    Mr. Alfred Morris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects to provide the full information sought by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration regarding the complaint of Mr. Pendleton of Wythenshawe in relation to delays in the designation of several estates in Wythenshawe as hard-to-heat; when such information was first sought; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration requested further information in a letter received on 5 June 1986. Officials are currently looking into the matter and I will reply as soon as possible.