§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether claimants or their representatives are entitled to a copy of the UB672 form completed by Employment Service officials when there are doubts about an unemployed person's availability for work or whether they are actively seeking work; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from A. G. Johnson to Ms. Clare Short, dated 28 October 1992:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, it is the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the Agency's Chief Executive to answer parliamentary questions about relevant operational matters. In his absence, I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Employment about whether claimants or their representatives are entitled to a copy of the UB672 form completed by ES officials when there are doubts about an unemployed person's availability for work or whether they are actively seeking work.Form UB672 is an internal document used by the Employment Service when acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, to refer a claim for benefit to the independent adjudication authorities for a decision on entitlement. As a matter of policy the form is not supplied to a claimant at that stage. If however the claim is disallowed and the claimant appeals against the adjudication officer's decision, a copy of the form would be included in the appeal papers copied to the claimant by the Appeals Tribunal.As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.