asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people in (a) Burnley constituency area and (b) Pendle constituency area have been in receipt of unemployment benefit for (i) less than six months, (ii) six months to one year, (iii) one to two years and (iv) over two years at the latest date for which figures are available;(2) how many
(a) men and (b) women (i) in the Burnley constituency and (ii) in the Pendle constituency have been in receipt of unemployment benefit for each of the last five years aged (a) under 25 years, (b) 25 to 35 years, (c) 35 to 50 years and (d) over 50 years, respectively.
I regret that the information requested is not available.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many new claims for supplementary benefit were registered in the local offices in Brighton and Leicester, respectively, for each year since 1979 by claimants under the age of 25 years.
I regret that the information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claimants were disqualified for unemployment benefit or had their supplementary benefit entitlement reduced under section 20(1) of the Social Security Act 1975 or regulation 8 of the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements) Regulations in each month since January 1979; and what change has occurred in the proportion of cases in which the maximum period of disqualification or reduction is imposed since it was increased from six to 13 weeks.
The information is not available in the form requested.The numbers of people subject to disqualification of unemployment benefit under Section 20(1) of the Social Security Act 1975 are shown in the table which gives a quarterly breakdown. The figures differ from those given by my predecessor in his reply to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 1 May 1986 at columns
471–72 because they take account of decisions made following a review carried out by the adjudication officer.
March
| June
| September
| December
| |
| 1979 | 129,519 | 128,489 | 142,464 | 138,072 |
| 1980 | 133,421 | 126,306 | 123,301 | 104,424 |
| 1981 | 88,428 | 86,901 | 87,268 | 85,802 |
| 1982 | 82,467 | 84,158 | 93,240 | 89,708 |
| 1983 | 83,711 | 83,142 | 93,475 | 93,859 |
| 1985 | 94,827 | 95,935 | 108,652 | 102,948 |
| 1986 | 96,499 | 102,084 | 111,858 | n/a |
Notes:
The number of people subject to a voluntary unemployment deduction under regulation 8 of the Supplementary Benefit (Requirements) Regulations 1983 are shown in the following table the information being available only on an annual basis:
Number
| |
| 1979 | 364,000 |
| 1980 | 260,000 |
| 1981 | 195,000 |
| 1982 | 182,000 |
| 1983 | 299,000 |
| 1984 | 299,000 |
Notes:
Information is not yet available following the change to increase the maximum period of the penalties under section 43 of the Social Security Act 1986 which came into effect from 5 October 1986.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting period for the processing of new supplementary benefit claims by his Department's Brighton offices; and if he will provide details of waiting times for each year since 1979 on a quarterly basis.
[pursuant to his reply, 11 February 1987, c. 270.]: The information is not available in the precise form requested. Figures are not available for the period before 1983, nor are they collected on a quarterly basis.The average time taken by Brighton local office to deal with a claim for supplementary benefit from 1983–84 to date is as follows:
| Year (ending April) | Working days |
| 1984 | 4 |
| 1985 | 8 |
| 1986 | 8 |
| 19871 | 8 |
| 1 Period up to 10 February | |