Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Attendance Allowance Board on 9th April 1987.
Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects to begin publishing the guidance and instructions of the Attendance Allowance Board.
Mr. Major The Attendance Allowance Board intends to publish in the summer a full revision of the handbook for its delegated medical practitioners.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Children’s Allowances on 9th April 1987.
Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy to maintain the real value of all children’s allowances; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Major We have no plans to alter the existing flexible arrangements for the up-rating of children’s allowances. The main children’s allowances were increased in line with the percentage increase in the appropriate index from 6 April, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to continuing support for families with children.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensions and Benefits on 9th April 1987.
Mr. Gordon Brown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will express (a) the basic pension and (b) the single person’s supplementary benefit level if unemployed as a percentage of average earnings in (i) 1957, (ii) 1979 and (iii) 1987.
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 Maternity Payments on 9th April 1987.
Mrs. Renée Short Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in the Wolverhampton North-East constituency claimed maternity grant in the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Major Information is not available in the form requested.
The Wolverhampton North-East constituency is covered by the Department’s local offices at Wolverhampton North and Wolverhampton South although their boundaries are not conterminous with the constituency. The numbers of claims for maternity grant received at these two offices during the 1986 calendar year were as follows:
Area | Number
Wolverhampton North | 2,066
Wolverhampton South | 2,072
Mr. Wallace Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women in (a) Orkney and (b) Shetland claimed the maternity grant in the last year for which figures are available.
Mr. Major The numbers of claims for maternity grant received during the 1986 calendar year at the Department’s local offices at Kirkwall and Lerwick, which cover the constituency, were 216 and 356 respectively.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Deaf People on 9th April 1987.
Mr. Dewar Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the support given by his Department to the Council for Advancement of Communication for Deaf People in each of the last three years and specify what part of each sum has been given specifically for training and administrative expenses.
Mr. Major In each of the last three years we have granted the council a total of £40,000 as a contribution towards central administration expenses.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Bed and Breakfast Accommodation on 9th April 1987.
Ms. Richardson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of people in bed-and-breakfast accommodation paid for by his Department in (a) Ilford, North, (b) Ilford, South, (c) Barking and (d) Dagenham; and what is the cost in each case over the last 12 months.
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 Severe Weather Payments on 8th April 1987.
Mr. Ernie Ross Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many applications for severe weather payments have been made in Dundee since 1 January; and how many applications have been granted.
Mr. Major Information concerning the number of applications made in Dundee for exceptionally cold weather payments is not available. However, for the period from 1 January 1987 to 10 March 1987, the latest date for which figures are available, the two Dundee local offices made approximately 8,000 £5 weekly payments.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Handicapped People (Respite Care) on 7th April 1987.
Mr. Evennett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has any plans to alter the provision of short-term respite care for the handicapped in England and Wales.
Mr. Major We recognise the potential value to families with a handicapped member and to the handicapped person of respite or short-term care. This can be provided in the family’s own home, by substitute families or in residential accommodation (often in small units in the community) run by health or local authorities or by private or voluntary organisations. It is for individual health authorities and local authorities to determine in the light of local needs and priorities the appropriate level and pattern of services within available resources.
The National Institute for Social Work’s working party, under the chairmanship of Lady Wagner, is currently reviewing the role of residential care (including respite care) and the range of services given in statutory and independent residential establishments and considering what changes are required to enable the residential care sector to respond more effectively to changing social needs. The working party’s report is expected in early 1988.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensioners (Electricity Expenditure) on 7th April 1987.
Mr. Adley Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information his Department has collected on the proportion of expenditure by pensioners on the state pension which goes on electricity.
Mr. Major The latest available information shows that pensioners’ expenditure on electricity in 1985 represented 4.3 per cent. of their total average weekly expenditure.
(Note – figures are derived from the 1985 Family Expenditure Survey and are for all pensioner income units, i.e. single pensioners and couples where the man is over 65.)
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income Support on 7th April 1987.
Mr. Kennedy Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the financial implications for claimants aged under 25 years of age of the proposed income support scheme.
Mr. Major The precise effects will not be known until the rates of income support are set later this year. Some general illustrations are shown in table 11B of the technical annex to the White Paper “Reform of Social Security (Cmnd. 9691), a copy of which is in the Library.