Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Board and Lodging on 14th April 1986.
Mr. Kirkwood Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of outstanding appeals involving the elderly and disabled in receipt of board and lodgings assistance; and from which areas they come.
Mr. Major The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income-
Sir Brandon Rhys Williams Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current total number of people in Great Britain dependent on income-
Mr. Major I regret the precise information requested is not available. The latest estimate of the number of people wholly or partly dependent on the main income-
No firm estimates are available for 1988 or 1990, but on the basis of the illustrative rates quoted in Cmnd. 9691 it is estimated that the average numbers in 1988 receiving benefit will increase by around 200,000 in the case of family credit because of substantial improvements over FIS, remain broadly the same for income support and that somewhat over 750,000 fewer householders will receive housing benefit. This assumes a 20 per cent. minimum rates contribution but does not take account of any households excluded from housing benefit through the proposed capital rules.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits on 10th April 1986.
Mr. Boyes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much a single 22-
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 Supplementary Benefit on 10th April 1986.
Mr. Wareing Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many supplementary benefit appeals are outstanding in the Merseyside region; to what extent the number of tribunal sittings has increased; and if he will make a statement on the current position.
Mr. Major At the end of March 1985, the latest date for which national statistics are available, there were 5,216 supplementary benefit appeals in the north-western region which had been lodged but not yet heard by a tribunal. The local DHSS offices had forwarded submissions to the tribunal clerk in respect of 3,854 of these appeals. I understand that since then the number of tribunal sittings has been increased and are now running at some 130 sittings a week in the region. The president of Social Security Appeal Tribunals is responsible for the administration of these tribunals, and any further information may be obtained from his office.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the London South Region on 10th April 1986.
Mr. Barnett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table setting out the percentage annual turnover of staff in each office of his Department located in the London south region for the latest year for which figures are available and the three previous years.
Mr. Major The detailed information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The following is the breakdown of percentage of total staff in the grades of clerical assistant, local officer I and local officer II who left the Department or the London south region (including those who retired) by office, for the year ending 30 September 1985, and a regional summary of the percentage of leavers in the same grades for the three years 1983, 1984 and 1985.
1 October 1984–30 September 1985
Office | Leavers per cent.
Aldershot BO | 16.15
Aldershot ILO | 24.44
Andover ILO | 10.91
Ashford ILO | 20.34
Balham ILO | 15.13
Basingstoke ILO | 15.75
Battersea ILO | 22.56
Bexley ILO | 13.70
Bloomsbury AO | 49.25
Bognor Regis ILO | 17.14
Bracknell ILO | 22.34
Brighton ILO | 15.18
Brixton ILO | 17.91
Broadstairs BO | 10.16
Bromley ILO | 20.67
Camberwell AO | 28.42
Canterbury AO | 9.09
Canterbury NIO | 9.46
Chatham ILO | 10.71
Chelsea ILO | 16.67
Chichester ILO | 12.50
City NIO | 19.40
Crawley ILO | 16.09
Croydon ILO | 21.76
Croydon LAAO | 27.10
Crystal Palace ILO | 29.36
Dartford ILO | 12.65
Dover ILO | 9.87
Eastbourne ILO | 17.06
Eltham AO | 38.64
Eltham NIO | 8.00
Epsom ILO | 34.76
Fareham ILO | 10.71
Folkestone ILO | 12.67
Gravesend ILO 16.44
Greenwich Park ILO | 20.86
Greenwich West AO | 23.81
Guildford ILO | 29.20
Hastings ILO | 15.45
Havant AO | 9.15
Havant NIO | 8.33
Haywards Heath NIO | 11.54
Hounslow ILO | 14.37
Hove ILO | 11.36
Kennington AO | 24.10
Kennington Park ILO | 10.47
Kensington ILO | 17.80
Kingston ILO | 18.18
Lewes ILO | 24.26
Lewisham ILO | 13.04
Littlehampton NIO | 17.65
Maidstone ILO | 10.17
Morden AO | 15.79
Newbury ILO | 20.90
New Forest ILO | 19.10
Newport (IOW) ILO | 5.61
Orpington ILO | 15.43
Peckham ILO | 11.02
Portsmouth ILO | 11.36
Portsmouth CONTS | 18.18
Reading ILO | 30.48
Redhill ILO | 21.11
Richmond NIO | 4.35
Rochester AO | 10.23
Sittingbourne ILO | 9.88
Slough ILO | 30.30
Southampton LAAO | 20.29
Southampton ILO | 12.67
Southwark ILO | 21.67
Streatham ILO | 13.72
Surbiton AO | 38.75
Sutton AO | 26.67
Sutton NIO | 25.00
Thames South AO | 22.41
Thanet ILO | 14.12
Twickenham ILO | 26.25
Tunbridge Wells ILO | 16.07
Wandsworth ILO | 21.36
West End NIO | 25.40
Westminster ILO | 9.28
Wimbledon AO | 31.67
Wimbledon NIO | 50.00
Winchester ILO | 18.06
Woking ILO | 21.10
Woolwich ILO | 16.29
Worthing ILO | 13.31
Abbreviations: ILO –
Regional Summary 1983–85
Year | Leavers per cent.
1983 | 16.08
1984 | 14.53
1985 | 18.62
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Computers and Software on 9th April 1986.
Mr. Ashdown Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his policy on the purchase for the use of his Department or the recommendation for use in departmental establishments of computers or software which are subject to extra-territorial constraints as to their use, movement or resale or export; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Major The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency acts as contractual agent for almost all computer equipment purchased by the DHSS. The exceptions are generally minor hardware items worth less than £5,000, and software items worth less than £500.
Decisions about the purchase of these minor items are made on the basis of all the relevant circumstances at the time. This Department does not recognise the extraterritorial claim to jurisdiction implicit in the United States export control laws.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Mrs Agnes Scott on 8th April 1986.
Mr. Eadie Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects to reply to the hon. Member for Midlothian’s letter to him concerning the case of 95-
Mr. Major I wrote to the hon. Member today.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefit (London South Region) on 8th April 1986.
Mr. Barnett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the average time taken to process postal applications for benefit in each office located in the London south region in the latest period for which figures are available;
(2) what is the average time taken to process applications for benefit in each office of his Department located in the London south region; what is the number of outstanding visits on the latest available date in each office in the London south region; and how many visits have been abandoned during the latest month for which figures are available in each office in the London south region.
Mr. Major Tables setting out the latest available information on processing benefit applications and in respect of supplementary benefit home visits for each local office in London south region have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Barnett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many postal claims for benefit were outstanding in each office in the London south region on the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Major Tables setting out the available figures of outstanding postal benefit claims on 11 March 1986 have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Barnett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what comparison his Department has undertaken of current pay levels of staff employed in offices of his Department located in the London south region in relation to pay levels in comparable employment in the region.
Mr. Major None.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income Support on 8th April 1986.
Mr. Ralph Howell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of the income support available to British subjects who had been working but had become unemployed in each of the following countries: (a) France, (b) West Germany, (c) Italy, and (d) Eire.
Mr. Major The European convention on social and medical assistance to which France, West Germany, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are signatories, provides that nationals of countries which are parties to the convention, who are lawfully present in another signatory’s country without means, are entitled to social assistance on the same basis as that country’s own nationals. Information on social assistance benefits is contained in section IX of the Department’s publication, “Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the Member States of the European Communities, Portugal and Spain (Position at 1 January 1985)”, a copy of which is available in the Library.
A United Kingdom national who has been employed and becomes unemployed in France, West Germany, Italy or the Republic of Ireland may qualify for unemployment benefit on the same basis and subject to the same conditions as a national of the particular member state concerned. For these purposes the insurance record in the United Kingdom may be taken into account under arrangements in European Community legislation. Details of the basic conditions that have to be satisfied and of the rates of benefit payable in EC member states are given in section VII of the tables to which I have referred.
Mr. Ralph Howell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the income support available to British subjects who were visitors in each of the following countries if they found themselves without any money: (a) France, (b) West Germany, (c) Italy and (d) Eire.
Mr. Major Such information as is available is contained in the Department’s publication, “Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the Member States of the European Communities, Portugal and Spain (Position at 1 January 1985)”, a copy of which is in the Library. As section IX of that publication indicates, there is no statutory right to assistance in France or Italy for people who are not residents of those countries. The supplementary welfare allowance payable in Ireland is shown in section IX as available to residents only, but our latest information is that a condition of residence is not essential.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit on 8th April 1986.
Sir Peter Hordern Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement about the treatment of home income plans for the purpose of calculating housing benefit entitlement.
Mr. Major The current guidance to local authorities, consolidated in a manual issued last summer, reflects the legal advice we have received on how home income plans should be treated when assessing entitlement to housing benefit. We have received a number of representations suggesting an alternative approach, which would require an amendment to the Housing Benefits Regulations, and are considering the position. We expect to be able to announce the outcome in the near future.