§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy that persons unable to work because of a criminal injury will be able to claim sickness benefit followed by invalidity benefit in the same way as persons who have had an accident at work or contracted an industrial disease, even if they have not paid sufficient, or any, national insurance contributions.
§ Mr. HagueWe have no plans to exempt victims of crime from the contribution conditions for sickness benefit.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make arrangements to ensure that victims of violent crime, who are disabled by their injuries receive disablement benefit, even when they are not employed earners, in the same way as if the injury had been caused by an accident at work.
§ Mr. HagueThe criminal injuries compensation scheme provides payment from public funds to victims of violent crime. The industrial injuries scheme provides benefits for employed earners disabled in the course of their employment. There are no plans to extend the industrial injuries scheme.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy that victims of crimes of violence who become unemployed as a result of their injuries will receive sufficient credits for national insurance contributions to enable them to receive full unemployment benefit.
§ Mr. BurtCredits are awarded for each week for which medical evidence of incapacity for work is provided. While such credits will assist a person to qualify for unemployment benefit, that person must also have paid a specified number of contributions as an employed earner, class 1, in the two relevant tax years.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make arrangements to ensure that the full rate of widow's pension is paid to all women widowed as a result of murder or manslaughter regardless of their age.
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