The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Category: 1983-1987 Parliament

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Child Benefit – 14 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Child Benefit on 14th November 1985.

    Mr. Ralph Howell Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what the saving in public expenditure would be if child benefit was paid at full-rate to people earning up to £100 per week and at half-rate to people earning between £100 and £150 per week and no child benefit when earnings exceed £150 per week.

    Mr. Major I shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Orange Badge Scheme – 14 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Orange Badge Scheme on 14th November 1985.

    Mr. Alfred Morris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations Ministers in his Department have (a) received and (b) made about the decision by some local authorities not to give automatic entitlement to an orange badge to recipients of the war pensioners’ mobility supplement; and what action has been taken in this regard.

    Mr. Major Ministers in this Department have received a number of representations on this matter from individual war pensioners and from organisations representing them. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with special responsibility for war pension matters – and her noble predecessor – drew these to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Transport who has responsibility for the orange badge scheme.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit – 14 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 14th November 1985.

    Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons are currently in receipt of invalidity pension; and of these what percentage is required to pay prescription charges.

    Mr. Major At 2 April 1983, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 737,000 invalidity pensioners of whom 61,500 were over minimum pension age. In December 1983, there were 67,000 invalidity pensioners who were also in receipt of supplementary allowance. In 1983 there were therefore at least 128,500 invalidity pensioners eligible for free prescriptions. In addition, other invalidity pensioners may qualify, e.g. on the grounds of low income or because they suffer from specified medical conditions which exempt them from charges, but I regret that these figures are not available.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit – 13 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 13th November 1985.

    Mr. Home Robertson Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many invalidity benefit claimants will receive no increase in their pension this month; and what proportion of the total number of invalidity benefit claimants this represents.

    Mr. Major I regret the information will not be available until later next year, but preliminary indications are that the proportion of invalidity pensioners who will get no increase in their benefit this month because their invalidity allowance is offset against their additional component will be very small.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on the Family Expenditure Survey – 12 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Family Expenditure Survey on 12th November 1985.

    Mr. Yeo Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he hopes to publish the 1983 family expenditure survey estimates of (a) the numbers of low income families and (b) benefit take-up rates.

    Mr. Major No date has yet been decided for publication of these estimates but I hope that they will be available within the next few months. It is not possible to estimate take-up of housing benefit from 1983 family expenditure survey data but an estimate based on 1984 data is expected to be available early next year.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Local Office Staff (Huyton) – 12 November 1985

    The text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Local Office Staff (Huyton) on 12th November 1985.

    Mr. Sean Hughes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the reduction in personnel in the Huyton office of his Department since April 1985.

    Mr. Major On 1 April 1985 there were 152 staff in post at the Huyton office of the Department. The corresponding figure for 1 November, the latest date for which the information is available, was also 152.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit – 12 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 12th November 1985.

    Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has any plans to change the child dependent allowance paid to invalidity pensioners, beyond those changes already announced.

    Mr. Major We have no plans for changing the qualifying conditions for child dependency additions paid to invalidity pensioners, though later this month the rate will go up from £7.65 to £8.05 a week.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Age (Pensions) – 12 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Age (Pensions) on 12th November 1985.

    Mr. Colvin Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the total annual cost of additional pension payments if the retirement age for men were reduced to 60 years.

    Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, South-West (Mr. Harvey) on 27 June at column 482.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Lambeth – 12 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Lambeth on 12th November 1985.

    Mr. John Fraser Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the staffing levels of Department of Health and Social Security offices in Lambeth.

    Mr. Major The staffing of DHSS local offices which deal with claimants in Lambeth is as follows:-

    Office | Provisional complement 1985-86 | Staff in post 1 November 1985

    Kennington | 90 | 107

    Kennington Park | 97 | 109

    Brixton | 148 | 155

    Streatham | 122 | 135

    Balham | 156 | 176.5

    Battersea | 140 | 158

    Crystal Palace | 117 | 131.5

    Peckham | 141 | 142.5

    Southwark | 134 | 151.5

    Note: – The figures for complement are provisional and will alter when recent changes are implemented shortly.

    As will be seen each office is staffed above the complement which is determined by a complementing system – “A guide to the DHSS local complementing system” is in the Library – the purpose of which is to match numbers of staff to the work load. A fundamental requirement of the system is to establish a base complement and to update the base complement to take account of any changes. This is done by means of complement review. A complement review was begun on 14 October 1985 an when the results are known it will be possible to decide on what levels of staffing are appropriate to the work load. It is our intention to continue to match staff to work loads.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 12 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 12th November 1985.

    Mrs. Beckett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will now withdraw the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements and Resources) Miscellaneous Provisions Regulations (S.I. 1985, No. 613).

    Mr. Newton I refer the hon. Member to the announcement made in the House yesterday by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.

    Mr. Nellist Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently in receipt of supplementary benefit in the city of Coventry; and how this compares with 1979.

    Mr. Major The city of Coventry is covered by two offices of the Department, Coventry east and Coventry west, but their boundaries are not conterminous with the city of Coventry. The total number of persons in receipt of supplementary benefit on 30 July 1985 (the latest figures available), and 25 December 1979 – the earliest figures available for that year – were:

    Year | Coventry East | Coventry West

    30 July 1985 | 22,795 | 18,527

    25 December 1979 | 12,078 | 9,876

    Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action.