§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many cases have been referred to the adjudication officer; and of these, what number had their benefit disallowed for each three-month period since the actively seeking work requirement was introduced.
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§ 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. Stephen Byers, dated 2 March 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of cases referred to the adjudication officer and of these how many had benefit disallowed, following the introduction of the requirement to actively seek work.The actively seeking employment condition was introduced in the 1989 Social Security Act. Unfortunately we do not collect information on the number of cases referred to the adjudication officer or number of decisions to disallow income support claims. We do however record the number of decisions and disallowances issued to unemployment benefit claimants, including those in respect of the definition of actively seeking work. This is contained in the quarterly summary entitled "Analysis of Adjudication Officers' Decisions", copies of which are held in the Library of the House. This information covers the period from 1 October 1989, when the actively seeking work condition was introduced, to the quarter ending December 1994.I hope this is helpful.