§ Mr. Tom Coxasked the Paymaster General how many people who live in the London borough of Wandsworth have had their benefit terminated or suspended as a result of interviews on the availability test.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeInformation is not available in the form asked. Not all the unemployment benefit offices serving the Wandsworth area are yet operating the improved procedures to establish that new claimants are available for work and, therefore, entitled to unemployment benefits in accordance with long standing legal rules. They have so far been introduced at the Tooting B, Wimbledon and Fulham offices.
At 12 December, the latest date for which information is available, 107 claimants had their claims suspended and referred to the independent adjudicating authorities because of doubts about their availability for work. Of the 12 cases upon which the adjudicating officer has taken a decision, 10 have resulted in disallowance of benefit and two in the restoration of benefit.
Tooting B benefit office also took part in the experimental test of improved procedures to establish the availability for work of those existing claimants over the age of 50 years who attend the office quarterly, and I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 26 November at c. 255–56.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Paymaster General how many people in Dundee have been interviewed under the availability for work test; and how many have had their benefits stopped as a result.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe improved procedures for testing the availability for work of new claimants using a revised questionnaire were introduced in the Dundee unemployment benefit offices during November. They814W have been applied to all new claimants at those offices but records are not kept of the numbers who have also been interviewed separately about their availability.
At 12 December, the latest date for which information is available, 23 claimants had had their claims suspended and referred to the independent adjudicating authorities because of doubts about their availability for work. To date, one of these claims has been disallowed, 13 allowed and nine are still under consideration by the adjudicating authorities.