§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will outline in detail what proposals he has for monitoring the implementation and impact of the Social Security Act 1986, which will be carried out directly by his Department or by other research bodies; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottThe objectives for the reforms enacted by the Social Security Act 1986 were set out in the Government's Green and White Papers, "Reform of Social Security" (Cmnd. numbers 9517 and 9691). Achievement of these objectives is being monitored using information derived from the Department's statistical and management returns, from expenditure data, from local authority returns and from the family expenditure and general household surveys.
A research project into maternity rights and benefits carried out by the Policy Studies Institute under the joint sponsorship of DHSS, Department of Employment and the Equal Opportunities Commission will start later this year. We also intend to commission independent research to start in spring 1989 into the extent to which the social fund is meeting its objectives and are considering a number of further research projects in other benefit areas.