Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Christmas Bonus on 12th November 1985.
Mr. Roy Hughes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will consider increasing the Christmas bonus for retirement pensioners.
Mr. Major We have no present plans to do so.
The text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Child Benefit on 12th November 1985.
Mr. Michael Forsyth Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many families have been disallowed child benefit for children over the age of 16 years because they are educating them at home; and whether he has any plans to change this position.
Mr. Major The figures requested are not available although the numbers are thought to be small. Child benefit may be payable for a child over 16, when the child is not attending a recognised educational establishment, if the special educational arrangements have been authorised by the local authority. There are no plans to change these requirements.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s response (his first answering on behalf of the Government) to the Sick Pay debate, held on 12th November 1985.
Mr. John Mark Taylor asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the minimum hours and earnings threshold for entitlement to statutory sick pay.
The Parliamentary Under-
Mr. Taylor I congratulate my hon. Friend on his first appearance on the Front Bench to answer questions. I thank him for his reply. Can he comment on the circumstances of an older employee in my constituency on £35 per week, but with some savings, who finds himself ineligible either for unemployment benefit or for sickness pay?
Mr. Major I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his kind words. In the case of the man that he mentioned, if his earnings are below £35.50 he will have no entitlement to statutory sick pay. He may, of course, have an entitlement to sickness benefit, which would depend on his previous national insurance contributions. If, however, he falls outside statutory sick pay and state sickness benefit, he may have a residual entitlement to supplementary benefit.
The text of Mr Major’s response to the Economic Deprivation debate held on 12th November 1985.
Mr. Stan Thorne asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he intends to take in regard to alleviating poorer people’s economic deprivation in the near future.
Mr. Major The Government are pledged to protect the retirement pension and associated long-term benefits against rising prices, and have successfully done so. Ultimately, however, improvements in living standards depend upon economic growth and the control of inflation.
Mr. Thorne Does not imposing additional charges, partly through rates and mortgages, on those in receipt of supplementary benefit create further hardship for those who are already deprived?
Mr. Major We believe that ultimately the best way to deal with these matters is to put money in people’s pockets so that they may meet the charges. The hon. Gentleman picks a curious time to raise that criticism. He will be aware that a substantial uprating of benefits of around 7 per cent. is taking effect later this month.
Mr. Forth Does my hon. Friend agree that the object of the review of social security is to ensure that benefits go to those most in need, and that the success of the review will be judged against that criterion?
Mr. Major My hon. Friend is right. The White Paper which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will introduce shortly will set out the system which, we believe, will direct resources to those who most need them. I think that that will be a welcome innovation.
Mr. Alfred Morris The Secretary of State was studiedly uncommunicative yesterday, as he has been today, about his detailed intentions for the future of SERPS. Can the Minister give a categorical assurance that there is no intention of amending SERPS so as to drop the rule under which every individual’s pension is based on his or her best 20 years’ earnings? Is he aware of the importance of that rule to very large numbers of severely disabled people and of the concern about its future among the organisations of the disabled?
Mr. Major The right hon. Gentleman says that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was uncommunicative yesterday. That may or may not have been so, but I have nothing to add to what he said.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 11th November 1985.
Mr. Nicholls Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps social security officers are obliged to take to establish the identity and address of claimants who present themselves for the payment of supplementary benefit.
Mr. Major Social security officers should be satisfied that details of identity and address provided by claimants in connection with a claim for supplementary benefit are correct. When they consider it necessary officers are able to ask claimants to provide documentary proof.
Mr. Nicholls Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what criteria adjudicating officers use in determining whether a person is available for work and therefore eligible for supplementary benefit.
Mr. Major A claimant for supplementary allowance is required to be available for work (unless he is in a category exempt by regulations from this requirement). In determining availability the adjudication officer takes into consideration whether the claimant is occupied or engaged in any activity which would prevent him from taking employment. In addition the adjudication officer must be satisfied that the claimant is not imposing such restrictions on the nature or other conditions of employment he is prepared to accept, that he has no reasonable prospects of obtaining work. If there is reason to doubt the claimant’s availability at any time during the currency of his claim, the adjudication officer may review the case.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Computerisation on 30th October 1985.
Mr. Cartwright Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement about the progress of his Department’s planned computerisation of individual files.
Mr. Major A substantial proportion of DHSS records are already held centrally on computers, including for example national insurance contribution records, retirement pension records, child benefit records and, on behalf of the Department of Employment, unemployment benefit records. Progress on our plans to redevelop these computer systems and extend computer support to DHSS local offices was set out earlier this year in Chapter 6 of the second volume of the Green Paper on reform of social security, “Programme for Change” (Cmnd. 9517). My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 11 September the decision to invite ICL to tender for computers to be used on the prototype for the local office project, the largest single project in the computerisation strategy.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Fraud Investigators on 30th October 1985.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many investigators into social security fraud are employed in (a) Greater Manchester, (b) Greater London and (c) the West Midlands.
Mr. Major The number of posts allocated as investigators into social security fraud in the relevant local offices of the Department is as follows:
Area | Number
(a) Greater Manchester 107
(b) Greater London 223
(c) West Midlands 235
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Student Awards on 29th October 1985.
Mr. Aspinwall Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it his policy that the determination of the supplementary rate of grants in connection with student mandatory awards in education is made at a time in the year which will minimise delay by education authorities in paying student grants; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Major I shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.
The text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Departmental Office, Huyton on 28th October 1985.
Mr. Sean Hughes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of hours of overtime worked in the Huyton office of his Department in each of the last five years and to date in 1985.
Mr. Major The hours of overtime worked in the Huyton office are as follows:
Year | Hours
1981-82 | 4,508
1982-83 | 9,996
1983-84 | 2,237
1984-85 | 10,640
The overtime hours worked from 10 April 1985 to 24 September 1985 (the latest date for which accounts are held) are 12,950.
Mr. Sean Hughes Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the annual cost of the overtime worked in each of the last five years and to date in 1985 in constant terms in the Huyton office of his Department.
Mr. Major The annual cost in constant terms of overtime worked in Huyton office in each of the last five years and to date in 1985 is as follows:
Year | Cost (£)
1981-82 | 31,544
1982-83 | 69,934
1983-84 | 15,646
1984-85 | 74,441
The cost of overtime from 10 April 1985 to 24 September 1985, the latest date for which accounts are held, is £90,605.
These figures are based on 1984-85 average costs of overtime in the Department.
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 over the last three years; and what savings have resulted from the reduction in staff.
Mr. Major Information is available only for the last two years. On 1 April 1983 there were 160 staff in post, on 1 April 1985 the corresponding figure was 153.
The seven posts resulted in a saving of £51,576 based on 1984-85 average salaries costs.
The text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 28th October 1985.
Mr. Rooker Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will introduce legislation to compensate for loss of pension those unemployed persons taking a reduced early pension in consequence of the supplementary benefit notional resources regulations; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what is his estimate of the number of unemployed persons in receipt of supplementary benefit, whose benefit is reduced because they have an entitlement to an early reduced pension from a former employer;
(3) how many submissions have been made to his headquarters from local offices in respect of deductions in supplementary benefit to unemployed persons who have a choice of a reduced early pension from a former employer.
Mr. Major Regulation 4(2)(a) of the Supplementary Benefit (Resources) Regulations (SI 1981/1527) provides that any resource which would become available to a member of the assessment unit upon application duly being made, but which has not been acquired by him may if, in the opinion of the adjudication officer it is reasonable in the circumstances to do so, be treated as if it were possessed by him.
Information on the number of persons to whom this provision has been applied because of entitlement to an early reduced pension is not available. Our headquarters received one submission on the matter in 1981 and I understand that the office of the Chief Adjudication Officer has in recent weeks given guidance to a local office in an individual case. We have no plans at present either to amend the existing law or to introduce legislation providing for compensation in such cases.