The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Category: 1983-1987 Parliament

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Departmental Staff – 4 March 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Departmental Staff on 4th March 1986.

    Mrs. Renée Short Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of the total number of staff employed by his Department are women; how many of them are employed on a part-time basis; and how many are not eligible for an occupational pension.

    Mr. Major As at 1 January 1986 it is estimated that just over 63 per cent. of the Department’s staff were women. It is further estimated 3,880 women were employed on a part-time basis on the same date. Most, if not all of them, work 15 hours a week or more and are therefore within the scope of the occupational pension scheme. The exact figure is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Precise figures on the number of women employed are collected annually and are available in May of each year.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Correspondence – 3 March 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Correspondence on 3rd March 1986.

    Mr. Mason Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he is going to answer the letters from the right hon. Member for Barnsley, Central dated 25 November 1985 and 22 January 1986 asking him to conduct an inquiry into the dismissal of Mr. J. Brown from the social security appeal tribunals.

    Mr. Major I wrote to the right hon. Member on 7 January in reply to his letter of 25 November. I regret that we have no record of having received his letter of 22 January, but if he would like to write to me again I will see that his letter receives immediate attention.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Pensioner Households – 3 March 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Pensioner Households on 3rd March 1986.

    Mr. Andrew Bowden Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many pensioners in receipt of supplementary benefit are classified as householders, and how many as non-householders.

    Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friend to table 5.1 of the “Annual Statistical Enquiry 1983”, a copy of which is in the Library.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Local Adjudication Officers – 28 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Local Adjudication Officers on 28th February 1986.

    Mr. Ewing Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether local adjudication officers are required to reside in the area for which they have responsibility; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major Adjudication officers in local social security offices are not required to reside in the area for which they have responsibility but they do, of course, work in offices in or very near to the area served by their particular local office.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit – 28th February 1986

    Below is the text of the Written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit from 28 February 1986.

    Mr. Watts asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average amount of housing benefit paid to single supplementary benefit claimants in Slough (a) for furnished accommodation and (b) for local authority accommodation.

    Mr. Major I regret that this information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

    Mr. Hancock asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of domestic ratepayers in Portsmouth receive housing benefit.

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

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments – 27 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Single Payments on 27th February 1986.

    Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give for the most recent month for which information is available, (a) the number of single payment awards as a rate per 1,000 claimants; and (b) the average single payment to (i) persons under pension age not required to register for work, (ii) persons under pension age required to register for work and (iii) persons over pension age, for each social security office.

    Mr. Major [pursuant to his reply, 10 February 1986, c. 365]: I have arranged for this information to be placed in the Library.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Contributions – 27 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on National Insurance Contributions on 27th February 1986.

    Dr. Owen Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the increase in employers’ total national insurance payments has been between 1979-80 and 1986-87 (a) in cash terms and (b) in real terms.

    Mr. Major Employers’ national insurance payments show a drop in real terms between 1979-80 and 1986-87 of nearly 22 per cent. Figures for Great Britain, based on 1985-86 prices, are as follows:

    Year | Cash terms (in £ million) | Real terms (in £ million)

    1979-80 | 9,832 | 15,908

    *1986-87 | 12,851 | 12,446

    * Estimate.

    The 1979-80 figures include the national insurance surcharge (abolished in 1984-85); the 1986-87 figures exclude amounts recovered for statutory sick pay (introduced in 1983-84). Both figures include payments for the national health service element and. the employment protection allocation.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 27 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 27th February 1986.

    Ms. Harman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people received supplementary benefit in Watford in (a) 1979 and (b) 1983; and what percentage change that represents.

    Mr. Major In December 1980 (the earliest figures available) 6,378 people were receiving supplementary benefit from the Department’s office in Watford. In December 1983 that figure had risen by 45 per cent. to 9,263.

    (Source 100 per cent. count of live cases.)

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit – 27 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Housing Benefit on 27th February 1986.

    Mr. Deakins Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average payment of housing benefit to pensioners receiving supplementary benefit; how much of this is attributable to rates; and by how much this average payment will be reduced as a result of recipients having to meet 20 per cent. of their rates bill out of basic income.

    Mr. Major It is estimated that the average payment of housing benefit to pensioners receiving supplementary benefit was about £15 a week in May 1985, the latest date for which information is available. About £4.80 of this was attributable to domestic rates after non-dependant deductions. It is estimated that this figure would be of the order of £1 lower if 20 per cent. of recipients’ domestic rates bills were ineligible for benefit.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 26 February 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 26th February 1986.

    Dr. Godman Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the answer of 3 February, concerning supplementary benefit claims in Greenock and Port Glasgow, if he will state how much was paid by each office in each year since 1979-80.

    Mr. Major I regret that no information is available about the amount of supplementary benefit paid out each year by individual local offices. Such information could be obtained only by a special exercise which would be disproportionately expensive.

    Mr. Sean Hughes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply of 20 February, Official Report, column 317, why information relating to young supplementary benefit claimants in Knowsley is not available.

    Mr. Major The Department’s local offices keep figures of supplementary benefit claimants under three headings only –those over pension age, those who are unemployed and those under pension age who are not unemployed.

    There is also an annual statistical inquiry based on a sample of cases in local offices which provides more detailed information, including estimated numbers of claimants in different age bands. However, the sample is not large enough to provide reliable estimates of individual local office figures.