§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what consultations he has had with the fishing industry about the impact of the jobseeker's allowance on those who previously claimed unemployment benefit following the detention of vessels in port as a result of bad weather or repairs; [5589]
- (2) what plans he has to exempt fishermen from the jobseeker's allowance in order to allow them to claim unemployment benefit when their vessel is detained in port due to bad weather or repairs; [5590]
- (3) what steps are being taken to help fishermen who find themselves unable to work as a result of (a) bad weather at sea and (b) damage to their boat. [5591]
§ Mr. Roger EvansShare fishermen have a unique position in the benefit system. They pay a special higher rate of class 2 national insurance contributions. This gives them access to contribution-based jobseeker's allowance in the same way that they previously had access to unemployment benefit. They are the only group of claimants given such special access. This special treatment dates back many years and is in recognition of112W the hazardous and arduous nature of the work share fishermen do and because fishing quotas and bad weather give them an irregular income.
The Government have introduced for share fishermen a package of special rules in contribution-based jobseeker's allowance which are designed to ensure that they are in a broadly similar financial position to the one that they enjoyed under unemployment benefit. These special rules were developed after detailed discussions with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
The special rules include an exemption from the 16-hour weekly remunerative work limit, without which they would lose benefit as soon as they worked for more than 16 hours. Share fishermen are also exempt from the rules under which high earnings can be averaged across a period so that they affect benefit in a number of weeks, rather than simply on one occasion. Most jobseeker's allowance claimants have £5 of their part-time earnings disregarded. However, share fishermen benefit from a higher, £15, earnings disregard.
This whole package of special rules clearly illustrates how far the Government have gone in jobseeker's allowance to ensure that share fishermen continue to receive special treatment. The rules are specifically 113W designed to provide share fishermen with the necessary financial support for those periods when they are unable to fish because of factors such as bad weather or damage to their boat.
Fishermen who are paid employees are treated in the same way as other jobseekers.