§ Mr. Allen McKayasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when legislation will become effective which will allow unemployment benefit to be paid to persons accepting voluntary redundancy; and what instructions or guidance he has given to employment offices on this matter.
§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements he will make to refund those miners who accepted redundancy from the National Coal Board between March and May 1985 and were refused unemployment benefit.
§ Mr. NewtonThe proposed amendment to section 20(1)(a) of the Social Security Act 1975, which has been added to the current Social Security Bill to establish that workers made redundant are not to be regarded as having left employment voluntarily, would come into effect as soon as the Bill became law. We hope the Bill will receive Royal Assent later this month.
Workers made redundant who lose benefit for this reason before the amendment comes into effect will receive extra-statutory payments, and the Department of Employment has already issued instructions to its local offices to identify these claimants from the records of voluntary unemployment decisions.