§ Mr. LathamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will list the action taken by his Department to assist Mr. A., reference OVB/STB/EC, Longbenton, 25 January 1989, to obtain sickness benefit in respect of his car accident in Italy on 7 December 1983; what response his Department obtained from the Italian authorities; and what efforts they made to insist upon a reply, before the intervention of the Italian ambassador and the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardResponsibility for Mr. A's claim was transferred to the Italian authorities on 8 August 1988, and from that date the matter was outside the control of the Department.
However, on request from Mr. A, overseas branch wrote to the Italian authorities on 25 January 1989, asking them to write to Mr. A and let him know the position on his claim. In response to a letter from my hon. Friend asking the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to arrange for the intervention of the British consul with the Italian authorities, which later was passed to the Department for reply as a social security matter was involved, overseas branch has written to the liaison officer in Italy to see whether the inquiries instigated by the Italian ambassador at my hon. Friend's request, have produced any results. If overseas branch has not received a reply to this letter within one month, we have said that the request to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the consulate in Italy to pursue the matter will be reconsidered.