§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were removed from the unemployment registers in each month during the last two years; and how many of them were removed from the registers(a) for making fraudulent claims, (b) for not genuinely seeking work and (c) unreasonably refusing a job offer.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythI have been asked to reply.
Responsibility 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 M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. leuan Wyn Jones, dated 24 June 1993:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to him about. the number of people removed from the unemployment register in the last two years for making fraudulent claims, not genuinely seeking work and unreasonably refusing a job offer. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
I would first like to apologise for the delay in replying to this question, which was due for reply on 10 May. The delay occurred because the question was originally tabled to the Welsh Office. I understand that, following receipt of the question, the Welsh Office contacted the Department of 270W Social Security (DSS) who accepted responsibility for preparing a reply. The question was then transferred to the DSS. The Table Office last week contacted the DSS to enquire as to when the question had been passed to the Employment Department for reply. While the Employment Department officials have no record of being contacted by the DSS, we accept that the question is the responsibility of the Employment Service and have prepared the following reply.
On the question itself, it may help if I first explain that the monthly unemployment count includes all people claiming unemployment benefits, such as unemployment benefit (UB), income support (IS) or National Insurance credits, on the day of the count and who, on that day, were signed on as unemployed and available for work. Essentially, all people who sign as unemployed are counted irrespective of whether they are actually receiving benefit. A person ceases to be included in the count only if they choose not to continue signing for whatever reason.
Below are the quarterly figures for the number of people who, over the last two operational years, have withdrawn their claims to benefit or have started to declare part-time earnings, not previously disclosed, as a direct result of an investigation by an Employment Service Inspector. Monthly figures arc not available.
Quarterly Periods Withdrawn/Modified claims 1 April 1991 to 30 June 1991 12,451 1 July 1991 to 31 September 1991 13,351 1 October 1991 to 31 December 1991 12,528 1 January 1992 to 31 March 1992 14,691 1 April 1992 to 30 June 1992 17,747 1 July 1992 to 31 September 1992 18,555 1 October 1992 to 31 December 1992 15,150 1 January 1993 to 31 March 1993 12,259 Figures are not collected for the number of people who choose not to continue signing as a result of their benefit being disallowed for failing to actively seek work or for refusing employment. People who continue to sign while a disallowance is in force are included in the unemployment count.
I hope this is helpful.
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.