§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Employment on what grounds he allows his Department to hand over names and addresses of unemployment benefit claimants to private bodies such as Research Surveys of Great Britain, hired by Sir Derek Rayner; and whether he will consult Civil Service trade unions about this practice.
§ Mr. MayhewAs part of the joint exercise with the Department of Health and Social Security to examine the delivery of benefits to the unemployed, a team from the two Departments is conducting a survey of the claimants' views on the present arrangements. Some 2,000 claimants have been asked by the Department whether they would be willing to give their views on a number of issues to Research Surveys of Great Britain, which is carrying out the survey on behalf of the team. These claimants have been given every opportunity to decline to take part and names and addresses of claimants so declining have not been given to the survey firm. Full discussions have taken place with the Civil Service unions concerned on the aims and objectives of the survey.