§ Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to seek to amend section 6 of the Supplementary Benefits Act 1976 to allow a school leaver to claim supplementary benefit for the initial period of first employment, for which remuneration is paid, retrospectively.
§ Mr. NewtonA young person cannot receive supplementary benefit in his own right until fixed dates at the end of the holiday following the term in which his non-advanced education was completed. We have at present no plans to amend the legislation governing the supplementary benefit entitlement of school leavers.
§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many supplementary benefit appeals are outstanding in the Merseyside region; to what extent the number of tribunal sittings has increased; and if he will make a statement on the current position.
§ Mr. MajorAt the end of March 1985, the latest date for which national statistics are available, there were 5,216 supplementary benefit appeals in the north-western region which had been lodged but not yet heard by a tribunal. The local DHSS offices had forwarded submissions to the tribunal clerk in respect of 3,854 of these appeals. I understand that since then the number of tribunal sittings has been increased and are now running at some 130 sittings a week in the region. The president of Social Security Appeal Tribunals is responsible for the administration of these tribunals, and any further information may be obtained from his office.