§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what advice she has given on the procedure that should be adopted by Employment Service officials where a claimant has left an employer within 26 weeks of the claim, in order to obtain better pay and conditions, but is then made redundant by the second, employer, in circumstances where redundancy could not have been foreseen. [16057]
§ Mr. ForthResponsibility 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 Mike Fogden to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 21 February 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the procedures which should be adopted by Employment Service officials where a client has left an employer within 26 weeks of the claim, in order to obtain better pay and conditions but is then made redundant by the second employer, in circumstances where redundancy could not have been foreseen.Current guidance for my people is that where a client makes a claim for Unemployment Benefit (UB), enquiries should be made of all employers that the client has worked for in the last 6 months.When the replies are received, any doubts identified are referred to the independent adjudicating authorities for a decision. These authorities are, an adjudication officer who makes the decision, a Social Security Appeal Tribunal if the client wishes to appeal against the first decision and a Social Security Commissioner, if a further appeal is made on a point of law. The independence of these authorities prevent me from commenting on their decisions or intervening in the adjudication process.I hope this is helpful.