§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment when, and in what ways, the guidelines given to adjudication officers on possible disallowance for benefit cases have been changed since November 1990 in respect of the actively seeking work and availability for work test; what proposals she has for setting performance targets for benefit adjudication officers; 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 M E G Fugden to Mr. Rhodri Morgan, dated 25 March 1993:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to repond to your Parliamentary Question about guidelines given to adjudication officers, and what proposals there are for setting performance targets for adjudication officers. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.All decisions on claims for unemployment benefit are made by independent adjudication authorities. Guidance for adjudication officers about deciding unemployment benefit claims is included in the Adjudication Officers Guide (AOG) which is issued by the Central Adjudication Service (CAS).The AOG brings together statute law and caselaw and provides guidance on how to apply these provisions to determine entitlement to benefit. It is published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and is available to member of the public through libraries and welfare rights groups such as Citizens Advice Bureaux.I have contacted CAS who state there have been no changes in the guidance issued to adjudication officers concerning actively seeking work conditions and availability for work since November 1990.There are currently no plans for setting performance targets for adjudication officers. Targets for the clearance of appeals to Social Security Appeal Tribunals (SSAT) will be introduced however, from 1 April 1993. These targets will relate to the time taken for clearance of appeals either to the SSAT, or in some other way, such as allowed on review or withdrawn.
702W
Prosecution action taken in the Crown Court2 by HSE's Factory and Agricultural inspectorate 1986–1991/921 Date of hearing3 Number of informations laid Convictions Total fines Average fines £ per conviction 1986–87 — 35 — 42,086 1987–88 — 14 — 42,696 1988–89 69 62 121,850 1,965 1989–90 78 69 367,600 55,328 1990–91 87 60 227,500 53,792 1991–921 100 78 832,600 5610,674 1Provisional. 2Excludes action taken under solemn proceedings in Scotland. 3Years commencing 1 April. 4Unvalidated data. 5Includes action taken by HSE's Quarries Inspectorate. 6Includes a fine of £100,000 imposed against Shell UK Ltd. The average fine without this conviction would be £9,514.
I hope this is helpful.As decided by the Administrative 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.