The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: 1985

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Households – 15 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Low Income Households on 15th November 1985.

    Mr. Frank Field Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the analysis on the number of low income households from the family expenditure survey data for 1983.

    Mr. Major I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 12 November to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, South (Mr. Yeo) at column 161.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit – 15 November 1985

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Invalidity Benefit on 15th November 1985.

    Mr. Clay Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many of those currently receiving (a) invalidity pension and (b) other incapacity benefits have claimed a supplementary pension; and how many of these claims were successful;

    (2) of the total now receiving invalidity benefit with a supplementary pension, how many will lose their supplementary benefit top-up when invalidity benefit is increased by 7 per cent. and the 5 per cent. abatement is restored; and what will be the estimated savings to his Department as a result of this exercise;

    (3) what will be the estimated savings to his Department as a result of not paying supplementary pensions to invalidity benefit recipients.

    Mr. Major It is regretted that information is not available about the number who have claimed a supplementary pension. At December 1983, however, the latest date for which information is available, about 9,000 people receiving supplementary pension were also in receipt of an incapacity benefit – sickness benefit, invalidity pension or non-contributory invalidity pension. It is not known how many were receiving an invalidity pension. Information is not therefore available about the number who will lose their entitlement to supplementary pension when invalidity pension is increased by 7 per cent. and the 5 per cent. abatement restored. There will in any case be no overall benefit savings.

  • 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.