asked the Paymaster General if he will publish a table showing the number of people in each Department of Health and Social Security office area in Scotland who have been refused entitlement to benefit (a) for failing the eligibility for work criteria and (b) following a restart interview in the most recent period of 12 months for which figures are available.

[pursuant to his reply, 5 May 1987, c. 339]: No one can lose their benefit entitlement solely as a result of a restart interview. As regards eligibility for work, it has always been a requirement, under longstanding legal rules adopted by successive Governments, that claimants to unemployment benefit must be available for work. Decisions about entitlements in individual cases are and always have been the responsibility of independent statutory adjudicating authorities.The number of claims disallowed on availability grounds by centralised adjudication offices for the 12 month period up to 31 December 1986 is as follows: