§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment by standard region of Great Britain, including Greater London, what is the current average length of time between a claimant's referral for adjudication and an adjudication officer's decision on grounds of restricted availability and non-availability for work.
§ Mr. EggarInformation is not available in the precise form requested. However, the speed with which adjudication officers make decisions—the time between their receiving a referral and reaching a decision—is monitored in a 5 per cent. sample of cases. The sample shows that for the three month period ending 31 December 1989, the percentage of restricted availability and802W availability questions decided within four weeks of referral to an adjudication officer, for each employment service region, was as follows:
Availability Percentage Restricted availability Percentage Southern 90.9 81.1 Eastern 98.1 91.2 Western 79.2 68.8 West Midlands 96.7 97.3 Yorkshire and Humberside 87.1 79.3 South West 85.2 81.5 Northern 95.8 100.0 East Midlands 83.8 78.9 Wales 96.1 100.0 Scotland 89.2 87.8 North West 80.7 76.0
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment for the three-month period to the end of(a) September 1989 and (b) December 1989, if he will give the decisions of adjudication officers on doubtful fresh claims, renewal claims and reviewed claims for unemployment benefit showing the numbers allowed, disallowed, referred to a local tribunal, revised in favour of claimants, revised adversely to claimants and not revised in the following categories of questions: (a) employed to full normal extent, (b) engaged in employment, (c) availability, (d) restricted availability, (e) leaving voluntarily, (f) for misconduct, (g) neglecting to avail of employment, (h) refusal of employment, (i) refusal or premature termination of training, (j) refusal to carry out written recommendations and (k) restart.
§ Mr. EggarI refer the hon. Member to the letter I sent her on 29 December 1989 enclosing details of the various decisions requested for the three month period ending 30 September 1989.
Figures for the period ending 31 December 1989 are not yet available but I will write to the hon. Member when they are to hand.
Analysis of adjudication officer's decisions are published quarterly by the Department of Social Security, under the title "Unemployment Statistics, Quarterly Analysis of Decisions of Adjudication Officers". This shows the number of adjudication officer's decisions in each category of question of doubt together with the number of cases allowed, disallowed, or disqualified. These publications are available in the House of Commons Library.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment by standard region of Great Britain, including Greater London, what is the current average length of time between an unemployed claimant receiving an adjudication officer's decision on grounds of restricted availability and non-availability for work and a subsequent appeal.
§ Mr. EggarI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 23 October 1989,Official Report, column 326.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many claimants have gained a bridging allowance; and, of these, how many have been awarded to pregnant claimants under 18 years.
§ Mr. EggarA total of 277,769 young people have made successful applications for bridging allowance from its 803W introduction on 11 September 1988 to 8 February 1990. Information on the number of awards made to pregnant claimants is not available.