Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Girocheques on 7th July 1986.
Mr. Craigen Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply of 11 June, Official Report, column 218, on the encashment of girocheques, when he expects to be able to reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill, about the constituent’s problem, details of which were supplied.
Mr. Major I replied to the hon. Member today.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Fair Rents on 7th July 1986.
Mr. Alton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services why local authority offices have been instructed in a circular from his Department to apply for registration of fair rents only in exceptional circumstances.
Mr. Major No such instruction has been issued by the Department.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments on 7th July 1986.
Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims have been made in the current year for single payments in Scotland by 30 June, or the most recent available date, which have still to be processed to their conclusion; and if he will estimate the outstanding amount that is being claimed.
Mr. Major Information is not available in the form requested. However, a special count made on 2 July showed single payment claims from 85,848 claimants were then being processed in local offices in Scotland. An estimate of the amount being claimed cannot be made. Information about amounts paid is recorded only after a claim has been determined.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Hostels on 7th July 1986.
Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the hostels surveyed by the Social Security Policy Inspectorate in preparing its 1986 report on hostels.
Mr. Major In preparing its report the Social Security Policy Inspectorate visited 210 hostels to hold interviews with residents receiving supplement benefit and with some members of hostel management. Information given to the inspectorate by particular individuals and organisations in the course of enquiries is treated in strictest confidence and an assurance to this effect is given to all participants. Accordingly, identifying details are not passed to the Department itself and are destroyed by the inspectorate in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1984. I regret therefore the information requested cannot be made available.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Unemployment Benefits on 4th July 1986.
Mr. Prescott Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, for the latest year for which figures are available, what is the total number of unemployed people who, during the course of the year, exhausted their unemployment benefit entitlement but were not subsequently eligible for supplementary allowance.
Mr. Major The precise information requested is not available, but it is estimated that of those who exhaust their entitlement to unemployment benefit something like 15 to 20 per cent. are not subsequently eligible for supplementary allowance.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit on 4th July 1986.
Mr. Pike Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people in Burnley at the latest date for which figures are available were receiving (a) rate rebates, (b) rent rebates and (c) rent allowances; and how many of these are certificated claims.
Mr. Major On the basis of information from Burnley borough council’s latest subsidy claim it is estimated that the average number of people in receipt of rate rebate, rent rebate and rent allowance is:
Rent Rebate | Rent Allowance | Rate rebate
Certificated | 2,930 | 1,050 | 6,260
Standard | 2,330 | 570 | 4,640
Total | 5,260 | 1,620 | 10,900
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions on 4th July 1986.
Mr. Kirkwood Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the additional full-year costs of advancing the date of qualification for retirement pension to the beginning of the week within which the qualifying birthday falls.
Mr. Major To advance the date of qualification for state retirement pension in this way would entail paying pensions for periods for which no entitlement exists, because the qualifying birthday is the minimum age at which state retirement pension becomes payable. The gross full year cost would be in the order of £20 million on the benefit rates applicable from July 1986.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 4th July 1986.
Mr. Kirkwood Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of supplementary benefit claimants, and the value of the claims, for claimants (a) under 26 years and (b) 26 years and over in receipt of the no fixed abode allowance for 1981, and in each subsequent year to the latest convenient date.
Mr. Major Separate statistical information on this subject is not maintained and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, our monitoring of the impact of the 1985 boarder changes does not show any evidence of general increases in homelessness among young people attributable to those changes.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Friendly Societies (Personal Pensions) on 1st July 1986.
Mr. Higgins Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether it is his intention to seek to restrict friendly societies from writing personal pension business.
Mr. Major In principle, we see no reason to prevent registered friendly societies from providing personal pensions contracted-out from the state earnings-related pension scheme, provided that the schemes they offer meet the investor protection standards which will apply to all such schemes.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Departmental Telephone Calls on 1st July 1986.
Mr. Heddle Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements he proposes to make to ensure that members of the public who telephone his Department’s office at 4-10 Regency Street, London SW1, will in future receive a prompt and efficient response.
Mr. Major Complaints have been made recently about the telephone service at the Regency Street office. Management have investigated and found faults on the switchboard. British Telecom has undertaken the necessary repairs and a normal, satisfactory service has now been restored.