The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: 1986

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits – 13 January 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Benefits on 13th January 1986.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons received (a) unemployment benefit and (b) family income supplement in (i) 1979-80 and (ii) 1984-85.

    Mr. Major Information is not available for the whole of the periods requested, but is available for November of each year. The figures for November in the financial years requested are given in the table:

    Benefit Type | November 1979 | November 1984

    Unemployment Benefit | 467,000 | 896,000

    Family Income Supplement | 77,000 | 200,000

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit – 13 January 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Supplementary Benefit on 13th January 1986.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons claimed supplementary benefit in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and to the nearest available date in 1985.

    Mr. Major The table shows the number of claims to supplementary benefit received nationally for each of the years 1979 to 1984, and the number of persons receiving supplementary benefit at 30 July 1985 – the latest available – and at comparative dates since 1979. The figures of claims to benefit for 1985 show the number received up to 19 November only – the latest available figures.

    Year | Claims received | Benefit recipients*

    1979 | 5,169,992 | 3,197,019

    1980 | 5,828,263 | 3,379,728

    1981 | 5,456,585 | 3,780,980

    1982 | 6,103,862 | 4,376,895

    1983 | 5,889,787 | 4,661,318

    1984 | 6,359,881 | 4,968,956

    1985 | 5,482,137 | 5,169,435

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

    Mr. Rooker Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will name the local office which had received recent guidance from the chief adjudication officer referred to in the reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr, on 28 October, Official Report, column 381.

    Mr. Major The guidance was given to one of the adjudication officers at Birmingham, Perry Barr integrated local office.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Pension – 13 January 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Retirement Pension on 13th January 1986.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the percentage rise in retirement pension claims during (i) 1983-84 and (ii) 1984-85.

    Mr. Major Retirement pension claims (all categories) rose by 1 per cent. between 1982-83 and 1983-84 and by 22.9 per cent. between 1983-84 and 1984-85. Numbers of claims in each year were:

    Year | Number

    1982-83 | 649,679

    1983-84 | 656,208

    1984-85 | 806,190

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Personal Records – 13 January 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Personal Records on 13th January 1986.

    Mr. Cohen Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action is being taken to tighten up security of personal records kept by his Department on individuals and procedures for disclosing such information on the telephone; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major A review of standing instructions about disclosure of information has been completed and revised instructions to staff on the protection of personal information held in Departmental records are being issued. These include additional guidance on the disclosure of information by telephone.

  • Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Departmental Staff – 13 January 1986

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Departmental Staff on 13th January 1986.

    Mr. Deakins Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of changes in the work load of his Department’s local office staff since 1979.

    Mr. Major There has been a large number of changes in work loads and procedures both in supplementary benefit and contributory benefits since 1979. These have involved variously both reduced and increased activity and their net effect on the national complement has been a reduction of 4,229 posts.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many jobs have been lost in his Department’s offices in the east Midlands since May 1979.

    Mr. Major I assume that the hon. Member is referring to those offices which were in the Department’s east Midlands and East Anglia region before re-organisation in August 1982.

    In May 1979 the complement for these offices was 3,465. The present complement is 3,559.5.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now increase the number of typists working in local offices of his Department by at least 2,000 extra posts; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major No. Such a proposal forms part of a bid for over 15,000 additional staff made recently by the Departmental trade union side which is currently being considered.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now increase the number of special case officers working in local offices of his Department by at least 200 posts; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr. Major No. Such a proposal forms part of a bid for over 15,000 additional staff made recently by the Departmental trade union side and which is currently being considered.

    Mr. Skinner Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many local offices of his Department in England now use staff to handwrite rather than type letters to claimants.

    Mr. Major All local offices of the Department of Health and Social Security make use of both handwritten and typed letters to claimants. The Department prefers individual letters to be typed, but often a handwritten letter or the completion by hand of a pre-printed standard letter or form, is the quickest and simplest way to make an inquiry or to provide information.

  • Baroness Thatcher’s Comments on John Major’s Appointment as a Junior Minister

    Below is the text from Baroness Thatcher’s book “The Downing Street Years” regarding the appointment of John Major as a junior Minister in the Department of Health and Social Security, ISBN 0002550490, page 422.

    MARGARET THATCHER:

    I also made quite a large number of changes in the ranks of junior ministers. Two future Cabinet ministers came into the Government – Michael Howard at the DTI and John Major who moved from the Whips’ Office to the DHSS. John Major was certainly not known to be on the right of the Party during his first days as an MP. When as a whip he came to the annual whips’ lunch at Downing Street with the other whips he disagreed with me about the importance of getting taxation down. He argued that there was no evidence that people would rather pay lower taxes than have better social services. I did not treat him or his argument kindly and some people, I later heard, thought that he had ruined his chances of promotion. But in fact I enjoy an argument and when the whips’ office suggested he become a junior minister I gave him the job which I myself had done first, dealing with the complex area of pensions and national insurance. If that did not alert him to the realities of social security and the dependency culture, nothing would.