§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will update the answer given to the hon. Member for Birkenhead on 11 June 1979, Official Report, c. 119–20, relating to unemployment review officers.
§ Mr. RossiSpecial records, introduced in September 1979 at the start of the current campaign to counter social security fraud and abuse, showed that the equivalent of 447 unemployment review officers, including management and support staff, were in post.
An additional 537 were allocated to the work for the financial year beginning April 1980, of which 60 were for unemployment review work in relation to claimants receiving unemployment benefit only. Overall, however, the manpower actually used in the 1980–81 financial year totalled 940 man-years.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many supplementary benefit recipients have been called for interview by unemployment review officers for each year since 1978; how many stopped drawing benefit before their interview and shortly after the interview; and how many were actually interviewed.
§ Mr. RossiBecause the method of collecting statistics has changed, I am unable to provide figures under the precise headings used in my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member on 11 June 1979—[Vol. 968, c.119–20]—relating to interviews by unemployment review officers. I can, however, provide the following information:
159W
Number invited for interview Number who ceased to draw benefit before interview Number of interviews* Number who ceased to draw benefit after interview 1979 219,000 40,000 307,000 84,000 1980 338,000 42,000 593,000 97,000 *Some claimants were interviewed more than once. Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.