§ Mr. Terry DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons in the west midlands region were disqualified from receiving unemployment benefit during the period 1 January to 31 March because they were considered to have left their employment voluntarily without just cause and were disqualified for the maximum period of 26 weeks.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 26 July 1989]: For the period 1 January to 31 March 1989, the number of persons in the west midlands region who were disqualified for receiving unemployment benefit because they were considered to have left their employment voluntarily without just cause was 4,471.
Information requested on the number of claimants disqualified for the maximum period of 26 weeks is not collected. However, the Department of Social Security has undertaken a survey to establish the proportion of claims which are disqualified for the maximum period, including those disqualified for leaving employment without just cause. An initial analysis of a sample of cases indicates that the full 26-week period is imposed in less than two thirds of the cases. The information obtained from the survey is still being analysed and will be published in full shortly.