§
Resolution reported,
That it is expedient to increase from thirty million pounds to forty million pounds the limit on the amount, which may be outstanding during the deficiency-period, of the advances to be made by the Treasury for the purposes of discharging the liabilities of the Unemployment Fund under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1920 to 1927:
Provided that after the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and thirty, no further advances shall be made unless and until the amount of the advances outstanding has been reduced below thirty million pounds, and thereafter the amount of advances outstanding at any time during the deficiency period shall not exceed thirty million pounds.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution."
§ Mr. BUCHANANMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman one question? I understand the Bill is not yet printed. Is it not a shocking thing that a Bill which we are to discuss to-morrow should not be in the hands of hon. Members to-night? Why the delay? I understand it is a Bill of one or two Clauses only.
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland)I think I am right saying that until this Resolution has been reported the Bill cannot be in the hands of hon. Members.
§ Mr. MAXTONWill it be in our hands immediately we leave the House at this sitting?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDI think so. In any case the contents of the Bill are indicated precisely by the actual terms of the Resolution which is before the House.
§ Mr. MAXTONHas the right hon. Gentleman considered the various points which were put to him last night, the requests for detailed information as to the position of the Fund, and the question whether it will be possible for him to put into our hands a paper which will guide us in the discussion of the Bill? We have had nothing so far which could help us, and if we are to be dependent to-morrow on the brief statement which he or the Parliamentary Secretary will make, the House will be handicapped unfairly in the consideration of this subject.
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDMay I correct one statement, and that is to say that the Bill will be circulated the first thing to-morrow? The House has to order that the Bill should he printed; that is the first thing to be done, and it has not yet been done. As regards information, I think there is no information necessary to the consideration of this Bill which hon. Members could not get from the printed documents already in existence. With regard to the one or two questions which were put during the Committee stage yesterday, I understand that my hon. Friend will be prepared to give the information at the earliest opportunity to-morrow.
§ Mr. STEPHENI think it indicates an extraordinary state of things that the Minister should have taken up this position. I put a question to him last night with regard to the transition period. I do not know what annoyed him so much about the question, but he treated it in the most discourteous fashion.
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLAND indicated dissent.
§ Mr. STEPHENPerhaps I was mistaken in supposing that, but he started to reflect on my character as a prophet, and I had not made any pretensions to being a prophet or the son of a prophet. I have already pointed out that the prophecies of the Minister last year with 1044 regard to this question were most inaccurate. What we are anxious to know is whether the Minister was going to have in the Bill any reference to the transition period affecting the hundreds and thousands of industrial workers who will be refused benefit because they will be unable to fulfil the 30 stamps rule. That is something upon which we should have some information before the Debate to-morrow in order that we may have a chance of putting down a reasoned Amendment to the Second Reading of the Bill. How can we proceed with this matter unless the Minister is going to give us a definite pledge with regard to the millions of people who will be deprived of benefit? I think that is a very relevant consideration, and I am surprised that the House of Commons is standing such treatment from the Minister of Labour on a matter of such importance with regard to the transitional period. We have had no definite statement, so far as I am aware, with regard to the extension of the transitional period, and I think it is absolutely shameful that the House should pass this Resolution without something more definite, and we ought not to be plunged into the Second Reading of this Bill without an opportunity of drawing up a properly reasoned Amendment.
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDThere is no Clause dealing with the 30 contributions. The terms of the Bill are in accordance with the Resolution already adopted.
§ Mr. KELLYAre we to have no explanation as to how this £10,000,000 is calculated? Are we to understand that no suggestion will come from the Government to help relieve the position in which the people are placed by this 30 contributions calculation? Those of us who are dealing with cases day after day and are having to deal with them at the Court of Referees, where the treatment is simply brutal, and having to take cases to the Umpire, are now told that this £10,000,000 is not going to be used in any way to assist those who will be deprived of benefit and who will be out of work, not because of any fault of their own, but because of the stupid system and want of organisation in industry at this time. I ask the Minister to give us some assurance that there will be some 1045 opportunity of dealing with this particular side of the problem, particularly when he is asking us to place this further burden on industry. The wages of people in industry will have to find this additional £10,000,000 and pay interest at the rate of 5 per cent. upon it. It is not treating the unemployed people of this country fairly or justly, and I am amazed that hon. and right hon. Gentlemen opposite are prepared to face the country when such treatment has been meted out to the unemployed.
§ Bill ordered to be brought in upon the said Resolution, by Sir A. Steel-Maitland, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Attorney-General, and Mr. Betterton.