§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many days after the start of the recent national coal strike supplementary benefit payments were first made available to miners and/or miners' dependants.
§ Mr. O'MalleyFollowing any spell of employment, supplementary benefit158W generally becomes payable from the day after final wages can be said to have been exhausted; this is usually the first pay day on which wages would again have been due. In the case of the recent mineworkers' dispute, the relevant day was Friday 15th February—five days after the dispute began.