§ 6. Mr. HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what special arrangements are made to pay benefit to mobile claimants, including those who attend pop festivals.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardIf there are large numbers of these claims, the Department of Social Security will bring together a mobile team of officers to handle them. This, as my hon. Friend knows, occurred twice in the west country in 1989.
§ Mr. HarrisDoes my hon. Friend know that the cost of policing a recent pop festival in Cornwall was nearly £250,000? Is she aware of the anger felt by many people that taxpayers are financing this type of claimant? Is she able to explain how on earth these people can qualify for benefit, using the old qualification of availability for work, let alone the new one of actively seeking work, when they go from festival to festival during the summer months?
§ Mrs. ShephardI understand my hon. Friend's exasperation, and that of his constituents, about the cost of policing these festivals. As he knows, it is separate from the Department of Social Security cost, which is very modest-in the region of £6,700. I assure my hon. Friend that mobile claimants, like all other claimants, have to satisfy Department of Employment officials that they are available for work and, with effect from 9 October, that they are actively seeking work. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to satisfy those requirements.
§ Mr. SkinnerIs it not ironic that the Tory Member of Parliament who asks about the cost of policing these festivals failed to tell us how much much it cost to organise and control the recent Tory party conference?
§ Mr. Tony BanksOver £1 million.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The Minister is not responsible for that.
§ Mr. SkinnerThe point that I am trying to make is that if it is right to complain about the heavy cost to the taxpayer of policing festivals, what about the Tory party conference, which cost £1 million?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That has nothing to do with social security benefits.
§ Mr. Skinnerrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman must take his chances where he finds them.
§ Mr. John MarshallAre we really being told that all the individuals who attend pop festivals are potential pop stars and not layabouts?
§ Mrs. ShephardThe issue is whether those who attend pop festivals—whether or not they aspire to be pop stars —can demonstrate effectively to Department officials that they are actively seeking work. That remains to be seen, as I have said.