§ Mr. Robin F. Cookasked the Paymaster General, further to the answer to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 19 May, Official Report, column 48, if he will state the last occasion when his Department issued instructions specifying members of a specific occupation or profession who were not to be advised on their entitlement to benefit.
§ Mr. LangIt has not in the past been necessary to refer to specific occupational groups in connection with the standing instruction to which I referred in my reply to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher). The miner's position is unique in that a decision on the timing of their claim could effect not only benefit entitlement but also entitlement to payment under the redundant mineworkers payments scheme. Their position was further complicated by the possible loss of national insurance contributions during the industrial dispute which ended in March 1985. It was particularly important, therefore, that this group of potential claimants were not misdirected.