§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants will be due for destruction if the normal process of destruction is resumed on 15 June;
(2) for how long the files of unemployed supplementary benefit claimants are normally preserved after the date of the last benefit payment;
(3) how many dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants who ceased to receive benefit before August 1983 are still in existence.
§ Dr. BoysonSupplementary benefit files are retained for as long as a claim is current and for at least 18 months following the date of the last payment. At present, approximately 6.4 million of the dormant files held relate to unemployed supplementary benefit claimants who stopped receiving benefit before August 1983. Information is not available about the number of files within this total which will be due for destruction when normal destruction procedures are resumed, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the staff costs of checking 1,000 dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants whose claims terminated before August 1983 in order to trace those whose benefit was wrongly reduced on grounds of voluntary unemployment.
§ Dr. BoysonThe estimated total staff cost of scrutinising the dormant files of former unemployed supplementary benefit claimants who might be due a refund of voluntary unemployment deductions is £3.6 million. This works out at approximately £570 per 1,000 cases.
§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what methods are used for destroying dormant files of supplementary benefit claimants.
§ Dr. BoysonDormant files due for destruction are put in special sacks which are collected and shredded by officially appointed contractors.