Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefit Fraud (Computerised Records) on 12th June 1986.
Mr. Squire Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether his Department uses computerised records in its fraud investigation section with special reference to investigation of fraud among itinerant claimants.
Mr. Major Fraud investigators have access to all Departmental records, both manual and computerised.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Residential Homes (Elderly Residents) on 12th June 1986.
Ms. Clare Short Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide full details of the costs taken into account in calculating the allowances payable to elderly residents in privately owned residential homes.
Mr. Major Supplementary benefit for elderly people in homes meets actual charges – not costs – up to a maximum limit, currently £120.
The Government aim to set limits at a level which will enable reasonable charges to be met, and take account in doing so of the best information available on relevant factors, including costs and charges. We are currently studying a report we have commissioned from management consultants on costs and charges in homes, and will make the results available shortly.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Fraud Staff on 11th June 1986.
Mr. Craigen Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will examine the problem which has arisen in the case of social security claimants who are incurring a bank service charge arising from the cashing of their Giro payment, details of which have been supplied to him by the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill.
Mr. Major I have received the hon. Member’s letter and inquiries are being made. I shall reply to the hon. Member’s letter as soon as possible.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Fraud Staff on 11th June 1986.
Dr. Godman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the answer of 5 June, how many of the 500 extra staff for social security fraud work will be found (a) in Scotland and (b) in the Strathclyde region.
Mr. Major Final decisions have not yet been taken. but it is expected that about 80 additional fraud staff will be allocated to Scotland. Strathclyde falls within the boundaries of three management groups, each of which will he covered by a benefit fraud team.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Maternity Allowance on 11th June 1986.
Mr. Irving Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his latest estimate of the number of women who will lose entitlement to maternity allowance as a result of the change to a recent work test.
Mr. Major It is estimated that in 1987-88 some 94,000 women who would have qualified for maternity allowance under the present scheme will not be entitled either to statutory maternity pay or to maternity allowance under the new provisions which will apply from April 1987. These will almost entirely be women who were not working when their pregnancies began and thus for whom such an earnings-replacement benefit was never intended. It is estimated that some 20,000 women who would not be entitled to maternity allowance under the present rules will be entitled to payment under the proposed recent work test of the new arrangements.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Private Residential Homes on 11th June 1986.
Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking, in the light of the decision of a registered homes tribunal on 4 June, to ensure that money paid by his Department into privately run homes is not misappropriated.
Mr. Major The tribunal decision drew attention to the rules relating to appointees which are in paragraphs 9520 to 9560 of the S manual, a copy of which is in the Library. The existing rules provide for the withdrawal of the authority for one person to act for another when there is doubt whether benefit payments are administered in a satisfactory manner.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Mortgage Interest on 11th June 1986.
Mr. Thurnham Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total cost of the payment during 1985-86 by his Department of interest on the mortgages of those unemployed during each of the first six months of unemployment respectively.
Mr. Major The precise information requested is not available. The “Annual Statistical Enquiry 1983”, the latest information available, provides information about the number of supplementary benefit recipients who have been unemployed for under six months where the assessment of benefit includes an allowance towards mortgage interest. Information about the average weekly payment in respect of mortgage interest added in the assessment is also provided. At December 1983 an average weekly payment of £16.82 for mortgage interest was included in the assessment of approximately 65,000 supplementary benefit claimants unemployed for under six months. On this basis the total annual amount of mortgage interest added in the assessment of supplementary benefit would be £61 million.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Population Statistics on 10th June 1986.
Mr. Leighton Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of the population of the London borough of Newham live at or below the supplementary benefit level.
Mr. Major I regret that percentage information on the number of people living at or below the supplementary benefit level in individual constituencies is not available.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Contributions on 10th June 1986.
Dr. McDonald Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the increased revenue for class 1, 2 and 4 national insurance contributions in a full year at rates ruling in 1986-87 resulting from the abolition of the upper earnings limit for employee contributions and of the annual upper limit for class 4 contributions.
Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 5 June 1986]: If the upper earnings limit (UEL) for employees class 1 national insurance contributions (NICs) and the upper profits limit for class 4 NICs were abolished, but the UEL was retained for the contracting out rebate, the additional contribution revenue in a full year in 1986-87 terms would be £770 million and £210 million, respectively.
These figures have been calculated on the same basis as the report by the Government Actuary on the draft of the Social Security Benefits Uprating Order 1986 (Cmnd. 9789).
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 10th June 1986.
Mr. Mason Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were in receipt of supplementary benefit in Barnsley during each of the years from 1979 to the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Major Barnsley is covered for social security purposes by two of the Department’s offices; their boundaries are not conterminous with those of the town. The table shows the number of people in receipt of supplementary benefit from those two offices at 6 May 1986 and at comparable dates since 1979.
Year | Number
1979 | 9,805
1980 | 9,882
1981 | 11,943
1982 | 14,563
1983 | 15,016
1984 | 17,623
1985 | 18,690
1986 | 19,565
Source: 100 per cent. count of live cases in action.