asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of the long-term unemployed receiving supplementary benefit have been interviewed by unemployment review officers during the most recent convenient period of six months; what percentage of those who were interviewed came off supplementary benefit before or shortly after their interview; and what are the comparable figures for the same period of 1978.
Information about the percentage of long-term unemployed people receiving supplementary benefit who have been interviewed by unemployment review officers is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, during the six months ending 27 November 1979, unemployment review officers carried out 177,156 interviews and, during the same period, 71,254 claimants ceased drawing benefit shortly before or shortly after interview. Comparable figures for the six-month period ending 28 November 1978 were 122,459 and 50,079, respectively. In each period the proportion was about 40 per cent.