§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what improvements have been made in the procedures relating to voluntary unemployment deductions as a result of the examination of these procedures; and what steps have been taken to monitor the efficiency of the improved procedures.
§ Dr. BoysonDetailed instructions on the administration of voluntary unemployment deductions already exist in the "S" manual, now published and a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Managers have been asked to ensure that these procedures are carefully followed in future and an aide for the training of clerical staff has been issued. A revised form to improve communications between unemployment benefit offices and DHSS local offices has been tested and is being introduced nationally in the next few weeks. The procedures will continue to be examined during the Department's normal monitoring of the work.
§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cases were included in his
214WDepartment's most recent scrutiny of current claims for the purpose of paying supplementary benefit wrongly withheld on grounds of voluntary unemployment; and in how many of those cases it was not possible to establish whether a payment was due.
§ Dr. BoysonAll current claims for supplementary benefit because of unemployment have been examined over the past few months. Records were kept only of the number of claimants who received a refund and the amount of the refund.