HC Deb 24 May 1988 vol 134 cc130-1W
Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many women with dependants have been excluded from eligibility for benefit under the new claims experiment.

Mr. Lee

The experiment involved using more senior staff to interview newly unemployed people. Its aim was to see whether it was possible to provide more advice on both benefit procedures and employment opportunities at the initial point of contact with an unemployed person.

The entitlement rules for benefit remained unchanged during the experiment. Information was not collected on the number of women with dependants who were disallowed benefit during the experiment.