§ 52. Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in respect of the Government's latest campaign in connection with unemployed persons who refuse to take low-paid jobs, it remains Government policy to follow the Fisher committee recommendations.
§ Mrs. ChalkerIt remains Government policy that persons claiming benefit who are of working age—with certain exceptions prescribed by regulations—are required to be available for employment. It is for the independent adjudicating authorities to decide on the facts of each case whether a claimant is or is not available for work and, if an offer of employment is refused, whether or not the person had good cause for refusing it.
It was the Fisher committee's view that the work of unemployment review officers in relation to long-term unemployment should continue even in periods and in areas of high unemployment; and we share this view.