§ 60. Mr. W. THORNEasked the President of the Board of Trade the reason for delay in the remitting of money to associations having an arrangement under Section 105 of the National Insurance Act; whether he is aware of the growing feeling of indignation and resentment among trade union officials and members at the inactivity of the Labour Exchange authorities; and how many trade union associations have expressed determination to abandon the working of Part II. of the Act?
The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. Robertson)The officials of the associations concerned in the arrangements referred to have, in many instances, failed to fill in properly the returns which they are required to make under these arrangements, and, as a necessary consequence, there has been delay in allowing repayments on these returns. This cause of delay is doubtless mainly due to the novelty of the procedure, and. may be expected in the natural course of events to pass away as 782 the officials become more familiar with the working of the arrangements. The Board of Trade are, moreover, considering the possibility of simplifying the forms of return at present in use, which, I may observe, were drawn up in consultation with the representatives of the associations concerned. If, as I hope, this simplification proves possible, the time taken in making repayments in future should be greatly reduced. Arrangements have been made with 107 associations under the Section referred to, having a membership of about 550,000. One of the associations has taken no action under the arrangement, having apparently entered into it owing to a misunderstanding, and two associations, with a total membership of less than 500, have either terminated or given notice of their intention to terminate the arrangement.