§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will update the answer given on 12 June 1979, Official Report, c. 210, to the hon. Member for Birkenhead relating to supplementary benefit claimants.
§ Mr. RossiFollowing is the additional information, which is given on the same basis as before:
Great Britain Calendar Year and Number of Claims Thousands 1979 5,170 1980 5,830
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many supplementary benefit claimants were paid benefit subject to their undergoing a medical examination for each year since 1977.
§ Mr. RossiNo such condition is applied to receipt of supplementary benefit. Claimants may be referred by supplementary benefit staff for an examination by a departmental medical officer for an opinion on(a) the claimant's incapacity to work or (b) the work capability of unemployed claimants. The numbers so referred have been as follows:
(a) (b) 1977 1,058 1,321 1978 800 1,485 1979 623 1,552 1980 459 2,038
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the number of claimants ineligible for unemployment benefit who have had their supplementary benefit (a) reduced and (b) withdrawn on the grounds that they have left, lost or refused work without good cause, for 1975 and subsequent years.
§ Mr. RossiThe information is not available in the form requested.
(a) Annual totals of the number of claimants who have had their supplementary benefit reduced because they left, lost or refused work without good cause are not collected. The following figures relate to the position on one day in November and are derived from the Supplementary Benefit Annual Statistical Enquiry. It is not possible to break down these figures to show separately those ineligible for unemployment benefit and those with an underlying entitlement.
Year Number of cases with reductions due to voluntary unemployment 1975 20,875 1976 Not Available 1977 26,795 1978 25,000 1979 27,747 1980 Not yet Available (b) Statistics about withdrawal of benefit do not discriminate between claimants who have or have not an underlying entitlement to unemployment benefit. The available information is as follows: 162W
Year Number of cases where benefit was refused or withdrawn 1975 4,262 1976 2,352 1977 2,123 1978 2,184 1979 4,121 1980 7,086
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the number of claimants in 1975 and subsequent years who have (a) been disqualified from unemployment benefit and (b) suffered a 40 per cent. reduction in their supplementary benefit entitlement (i) as a result of leaving their last employment without just cause and (ii) because of their refusal to take suitable employment.
§ Mr. Rossi(a) Annual totals of claimants who were disqualified from unemployment benefit for the reasons stated were as follows:
(i) (ii) Year Left employment without just cause Refusal of suitable employment 1975 381,100 4,500 1976 389,000 3,300 1977 430,400 4,100 1978 441,300 4,200 1979 409,500 7,000 1980 344,400 7,900 (b) Information about claimants who have suffered disqualification of unemployment benefit for these reasons and consequently had their supplementary benefit entitlement reduced is not available.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost of special investigations into (a) the supplementary benefits scheme and (b) the national insurance scheme in each year since 1974; and if he will express each figure as a percentage of the amount recovered as a result of their investigations.
§ Mr. RossiAny estimates made of the cost of special investigations are not related to types of case in this way.