§ 5. Mr. BUCHANANasked the Minister of Labour the total number of persons who have applied for unemployment benefit in the city of Glasgow during the past three months and the number refused; and the number of men and women, respectively?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of LABOUR (Mr. Betterton)During the three months ended 10th October, 1927, 64,670 claims to unemployment benefit (including repeat claims by the same individuals) were recorded at Employment Exchanges in the Glasgow area, 50,022 being from men, 12,250 from women and 2,398 from juveniles. During the same period 31,855 applications for extended benefit were considered by the local committees in that area, of which 6,962 were recommended for disallowance, 4,938 being from men, 1,670 from women and 354 from juveniles. I am unable to state the number of applications for standard benefit which were disallowed.
§ Mr. BUCHANANCan the Parliamentary Secretary give any reason why there has been an increase in the percentage of refusals in Glasgow, and is it not a fact that the fresh instructions which have been issued have caused an increase in these refusals to take place?
§ Mr. BETTERTONNo, Sir. So far as I know, no instructions have been issued.
§ 7. Mr. LANSBURYasked the Minister of Labour how many young persons under 21 years of age of both sexes have been registered as unemployed during each of the 12 months ending 31st October; how many of these have been refused unemployment benefit on the ground that the family income was sufficient for their maintenance; and how many were refused because of alleged failure to look for work?
§ Mr. BETTERTONAs the reply includes a number of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. T. WILLIAMSWill the hon. Gentleman answer the last part but one of the question?
§ Mr. BETTERTONMy reply states that during the 12 months ended 10th October, 1927, 13,799 applications for extended benefit by persons under 18 years of age were recommended for disallowance by local committees in Great Britain on the ground that the family income was sufficient for maintenance.
§ Mr. WILLIAMSWill the Parliamentary Secretary inform the House what is the basis taken by the local employment committees as to the necessary income before disallowance is liable to take place?
§ Mr. BETTERTONThat is an entirely different question. I will send the hon. Member a copy of the circular which deals with that point.
§ Following is the statement:
§ The following table shows the number of persons under 18 years of age who were on the registers of Employment Exchanges in Great Britain on the last Monday of each month in the last 12 months. Corresponding statistics are not available in respect of persons 18 to 20 years of age:
| Month (end of). | Boys. | Girls. | Total. |
| 1926. | |||
| November | 36,913 | 37,168 | 74,081 |
| December | 32,501 | 30,721 | 63,222 |
| 1927 | |||
| January | 38,163 | 40,285 | 78,448 |
| February | 31,278 | 34,127 | 65,405 |
| March | 26,813 | 29,541 | 56,354 |
| April | 31,834 | 31,976 | 63,810 |
| May | 27,609 | 27,362 | 54,971 |
| June | 26,234 | 25,111 | 51,345 |
| July | 33,062 | 29,619 | 62,681 |
| August | 35,959 | 33,777 | 69,736 |
| September | 32,111 | 32,312 | 64,423 |
| *October | 31,112 | 29,910 | 61,022 |
| * In respect of 24th October, the latest available date |
§ During the 12 months ended 10th October, 1927, 13,799 applications for extended benefit by persons under 18 years of age were recommended for disallowance by local committees in Great Britain, on the ground that the family income was sufficient for maintenance, and 5,718 on the ground that the applicants were not 175 making every reasonable effort to obtain suitable employment or were not willing to accept suitable employment. Statistics are not available with regard to the number of separate individuals included in these figures.
§ 6. Mr. LANSBURYasked the Minister of Labour how many persons registered as unemployed during the 12 months ending 31st October have been refused unemployment pay because of alleged failure to comply with the statutory condition as to work likely to be available for such persons?
§ Mr. BETTERTONDuring the 12 months ended 10th October, 1927, out of 3,571,505 applications for extended benefit considered by local committees in Great Britain, 23,098 were recommended for disallowance on the ground that insurable employment was not likely to be available. These figures relate to separate applications; the number of separate individuals cannot be given.