§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number of persons in receipt of the allowance for lowered standard of occupation in each year for the past 10 years. [24050]
§ Mr. HealdThe information is in the table:
Numbers in receipt of allowance for lowered standard of occupation at 31 December Year Number 1986 10,886 1987 10,827 1988 10,670 1989 10,523 1990 10,395 1991 10,487 1992 10,866 1993 11,876 1994 13,437 1995 14,200
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the annual cost of the allowance for lowered standard of occupation for the past 10 years and the estimated cost for the coming financial year. [24052]
§ Mr. HealdThe information is not available in the format requested.
The estimated cost for 1996–97, rounded to the nearest £5 million, will be around £25 million at cash prices.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what provision exists for an appeal against the withdrawal of the allowance for lowered standard of occupation. [24054]
§ Mr. HealdThere is no right of appeal against a decision on behalf of the Secretary of State on a war pension supplementary allowance. Such decisions may be formally challenged only by judicial review.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons in receipt of allowances for lowered standard of occupation have been offered re-engagement in the regular or reserve forces. [24049]
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many persons have had their allowance for lowered standard of occupation cancelled on the grounds that their pensioned disablement does not prevent them from carrying out their service occupation; [24051]
(2) how many persons were given a medical examination prior to the decision being taken in deciding to revoke the allowance for lowered standard of occupation. [24053]
§ Mr. HealdA total of 1,301 pensioners are to have their allowance cancelled on the ground that the war pensioned disablement does not prevent them following their regular service occupation. In order to determine their entitlement to a war disablement pension or gratuity under the war pensions scheme, a medical or audiometric 359W examination is normally necessary. Records of these examinations were available when eligibility for the allowance for lowered standard of occupation was reviewed.