§ 29. Mr. STEPHENasked the Minister of Labour the number of women's claims for insurance benefit which have been rejected under Section 7 (1) (iii) of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, during the three months from August, 1924, and the corresponding figures for the three months beginning 1st January, 1925; the number of such cases reviewed in each case under Section 10 of the Unemployment Insurance (No. 2) Act, 1921; and the number of such cases of review in which the applicant was granted benefit?
§ Mr. BETTERTONUnder Section 7 (1) (iii) of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, as amended by the Unemployment Insurance (No. 2) Act, 1924, the number of women's claims disallowed by the insurance officer was 10,322 from August to October, 1924, and 18,694 from January to March, 1925. These figures represent 416 claims and not necessarily different claimants. There was, of course, a right of appeal to the Court of Referees, and, in certain cases, to the Umpire, but I am unable to say in how many cases this right was exercised or with what result. The figures asked for in the second and third parts of the question are not available.
§ Mr. STEPHENCan the Minister explain why there is this increase in the second period of these figures—this big increase?
§ Mr. BETTERTONI think probably one explanation is that the condition regarding genuinely seeking work appears for the first time in this connection in the Act of August, 1924, and was more fully operative in the second period.
§ Mr. STEPHENDoes the Minister not think that the increase is due to the policy of the Ministry itself in recent times to try, one way or another, to cut down the number of people?
§ Mr. BETTERTONNo, I do not know that.