§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) whether he proposes to make any changes in form UB671 as a result of the pilot trial of work availability; and if he will withdraw questions 14 and 15 relating to child care arrangements;
(2) what was the total number of referrals to insurance officers during the pilot trial of work availability; how many applications were disallowed; and what were the main reasons for benefit refusal.
§ Mr. WaddingtonAs a result of the pilot exercise on the initial availability test, minor changes are to be made to form UB671. Questions 14 and 15 will be retained although with slightly different wording; in particular question 15 will now ask "What arrangements can you make for their care if you are at work?"
The results show that 124 decisions on initial availability were given by insurance officers during the pilot exercise. There were 88 decisions to allow benefit and 36 disallowances. Over 60 per cent. of the disallowances were cases where the claimant was not available for any kind of work.
§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the results of the pilot trials of availability for work tests; whether he intends making any changes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe results from the unemployment benefit offices involved in running the pilot exercise on the initial availability test are given in the following table. As a result of the pilot exercise, a few minor modifications to the test will be made when it is introduced nationally in October.
Result of Pilot Exercise Claimants tested 39,334 "No" replies to additional question on basic claim form 1,041 Forms UB671 issued 1,041 Forms UB671 returned 883 Claims treated as straightforward 759 Decisions given by insurance officer (88 allowed; 36 disallowed) 124