§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many decisions on claims in 1993–94 for unemployment benefit where payment was suspended pending investigation of whether the claimant had left a job voluntarily without just cause were delayed due to the failure of former employers to respond to request for evidence within the periods specified by Employment Service guidelines.
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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. Harry Barnes, dated 24 November 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of claims for unemployment benefit where payment was suspended pending a decision on whether a claimant had left employment voluntarily without just cause and where the decision was delayed due to failure of an employer to respond to a request for information within the period specified by the Employment Service.Unfortunately we do not collect the information you have requested. We record the number of adjudication decisions not suspensions. In addition there is no time limit for employers to respond to enquiries from adjudication officers. In general adjudication officers allow employers three weeks in which to reply to requests for information. However, this will vary depending on local circumstances.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the Employment Service has undertaken research into periods of disqualification from unemployment benefit following a finding of voluntary unemployment.
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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. Harry Barnes, dated 24 November 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about whether the Employment Service (ES) has undertaken research into periods of disqualification from unemployment benefit following a finding of voluntary unemployment.Collection of this information would involve a special exercise which ES has historically not undertaken. However, because of the interest shown by Members and others in the length of disqualification periods, it has been decided that a limited amount of data on this issue should be collected as part of a larger project, which is currently under way. This will provide a snapshot picture of average periods of disqualification imposed during October. The results should be available by the end of 1994 and I will forward them to you.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment in respect of claims for unemployment benefit, where payment was suspended pending investigation of whether the claimant had left a job268W voluntarily without just cause, what was the average length of time in 1993–94 and in each of the five preceding years (a) between the logging of the claim with the Employment Service and its referral to an adjudicator, (b) between the logging of the claim with the Employment Service and receiving a response from the former employer, (c) between the referral of the claim from the Employment Service to an adjudicator and the adjudicator's decision and (d) between the lodging of an appeal and the appeal hearing.
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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. Harry Barnes, dated 24 November 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of claims where payment was suspended pending a decision on whether a claimant had left employment voluntarilly without just cause and the times taken to refer the question to an adjudication officer, for employers to reply to enquiries, for the adjudication officer to decide the question and for an appeal hearing to take place once an appeal has been lodged.Unfortunately we do not have all of the information you have requested. We record the number of adjudication decisions not suspensions or referrals to adjudication. We do not keep information on the time taken by employers to reply to requests for information as it has no operational value.Because of the independence of the adjudicating authorities, and the limited use we could make of the information, we do not collect statistics on the time taken to make decisions. However, due to the interest shown in this data by various people we have recently conducted an exercise during the quarter ending 30 September to measure the time from when a referral is received by the adjudication officer to when a decision is made. The exercise monitored several different types of decisions. Of the sample of disqualifications examined, which included leaving voluntarily cases, 28 per cent. were decided within 14 days, 54 per cent. within 28 days and 88 per cent. within 56 days.The administration of Social Security Appeal Tribunals (SSATs) is the responsibility of the Independent Tribunal Service. I am therefore unable to respond to your question about the time taken by them to list appeals for hearing. We do collect information on the time taken by adjudication officers to clear appeals. However, this information is not available specifically for leaving voluntarily questions. During the quarter ending 30 September 76 per cent. of appeals were cleared within 28 days and 93 per cent. within 56 days. This data includes appeals that were withdrawn by the claimant, reviewed and allowed by the adjudication officer and those submitted to the SSAT.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment in how many of the total number of unemployment benefit claims in 1993–94 and in each of the five preceding years benefit was(a) suspended, (b) suspended but subsequently reinstated by the adjudication officer and (c) suspended but reinstated on appeal.
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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.
269WLetter from M.E.G. Fogden to Mr. Harry Barnes, dated 24 November 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of claims suspended, suspended and reinstated by an adjudication officer and suspended and reinstated on appeal.Unfortunately information is not available in the form you have requested. We record the number of adjudication decisions and opinions not suspensions. It may be helpful if I explain that a benefit suspension is not imposed in all cases referred to adjudication for a
1988 1989 1990 Quarter ending 31 March 1991 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 Total Decisions/Opinions 1,642,021 1,284,482 1,326,016 40,203 1,930,676 2,203,816 2,138,936 Appeals Received 30,339 24,152 19,493 5,860 27,942 23,601 20,311 Appeals Reviewed and Revised 8,066 5,157 3,792 1,188 6,440 5,336 4,456 Appeals Submitted to Tribunal 20,375 17,554 14,506 3,703 17,953 16,539 13,978 For 1988, 1989 and 1990 the statistical year ended on 31 December.
From 1 April 1991 the statistical year was amended to coincide with the operational year end of 31 March.
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed people were refused benefits, and for what reasons, in each of the last five years.
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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 Ms Liz Lynne, dated 24 November 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of claimants refused benefits and the reasons for these refusals.It may be helpful if I explain that decisions on entitlement to benefit are made by independent adjudication officers. Employment Service (ES) adjudication officers only determine claims for unemployment benefit. Decisions on other benefits are the responsibility of my colleagues in Benefits Agency.The statistics your asked for on ES adjudication officers' decisions for each region and for Great Britain as a whole are contained in the quarterly summary entitled "Analysis of Adjudication Officers' Decisions". Copies are held in the Library of the House. The latest available information relates to the quarter ending June.I hope this is helpful.