§ Lord Kilmarnockasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the text of the letter sent to me by the noble Lord, Lord Glenarthur, on 9th January last.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonThe text of the letter is as follows:
"Dear Alastair,
During the debate on the Statutory Sick Pay Up-rating (No. 2) Order 1983 on 16th December, you asked me about the effect that the introduction of self-certification may have had upon the number of spells of short-term sickness and the reason for any 1146WA such effect. You quoted paragraph 3.11 of the Social Security Advisory Committee's 1982–83 report, in which they say that the number of these spells has reduced dramatically since the new system was introduced; and you asked whether the system was deterring people from going sick or from making genuine claims. I should like to enlarge on the answer I gave during the debate.
In the months following the introduction of self-certification in June 1982, the number of new claims to state incapacity benefits was about 20 per cent. less than during the corresponding period the previous year. However, claims to incapacity benefits had been declining since 1979 for reasons thought to be connected with the rise in unemployment; and the decline after June 1982 could well have been a continuation of this trend. The rather odd feature of the statistics during 1982 was that the decline had not continued during the first half of the year, but recommenced in the second half of the year.
We have no statistics of the number of sickness spells for which SSP is paid and so it is not possible to continue to monitor the general trend in short-term sickness except by means of interview surveys. The further monitoring in which we are now engaged consists in a statistical exercise to compare the spell-lengths of the claims to state benefit during the periods immediately preceding and following the introduction of self-certification. It is possible that a change in the distribution of these spell-lengths will throw further light on what, if any, causal role self-certification played in the reduction in claims at that time. The results of this study should be available in the spring.
As I indicated during the debate, we have no evidence that self-certification has acted to deter people either from taking sickness absences or from claiming benefits, nor any reason to suppose that it should have had such an effect. I should mention that it is not necessary for an employee to "claim" SSP; when an employer is notified of sickness, it is for him then to assess entitlement to SSP and to pay what he considers is due. Also, it is not the case as you suggested that SSP is in general payable at lower rates than sickness benefit. In April 1984, the standard rate of SSP at £42.25 will be the same as the rate of sickness benefit payable to a man with a dependent wife and two children. And, for those without dependants, the rates of SSP compare very favourable with the rate of sickness benefit.
I hope this reply is helpful.
Yours ever,
Simon,
THE LORD GLENARTHUR"