§ Mr. Meacherasked the Paymaster General (I) why his Department has issued circular 30/1986, dated 15 April 1986, to regional, area benefit, benefit and local managers and regional finance officers, prohibiting advice to redundant mineworkers on signing on to receive unemployment benefit;
(2) how many times, and in what circumstances, in the last year his Department has issued instructions not to advise people seeking advice on when to sign on at unemployment benefit offices or on whether or not to claim unemployment benefit.
§ Mr. LangThe circular emphasises standing instructions that advice should be confined to an explanation of the various conditions governing the payment of benefit but stresses that it is for the individual to decide whether or not to claim.
This is the only occasion such a reminder has been issued in the last year but similar general instructions were issued annually in the past until incorporated into standing instructions.
The date that a claim begins determines which tax year's national insurance contributions are taken into account to assess the claim. However, details of national insurance records are not immediately available to staff in benefit offices and in the absence of this information such advice on whether or not a claim should be made could be misleading.