§ 17 and 18. Mr. L'ESTRANGE MALONEasked the Minister of Labour (1) the number of claims for benefit made at the Northampton Employment Exchange which were disallowed on the ground that the applicants were not normally engaged in insurable employment in the periods 31st March to 30th June in 1928, 1929 and 1930, respectively; and
(2) the number of claims for benefit made at the Northampton Employment Exchange which were disallowed on the ground that the applicants were not genuinely seeking work in the periods 31st March to 30th June in 1928 and 1929, respectively?
§ Miss BONDFIELDAs the reply includes a table of figures, I will circulate a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. MALONEWill my right hon. Friend institute an inquiry as soon as possible into the working of the Act in this respect?
| Claims for Benefit disallotoed on certain grounds in the Northampton Area. | |||
| Period. | Number of claims disallowed on the ground— | ||
| Not genuinely seeking work. | Not normally insurable and will not normally seek to obtain a livelihood by means of insurable employment. | ||
| 19th April* to 11th June, 1928 | … | 25 | 10 |
| 11th March to 10th June, 1929 | … | 174 | 11 |
| 13th March to 9th June, 1930 | … | — | 69† |
| *Corresponding figures are not now available for earlier dates. | |||
| †Disallowances by the Court of Referees for the Northampton, Daventry and Towcester area. The other figures in the Table relate to claims made at Northampton Exchange. |
§ 21. Mr. STEPHENasked the Minister of Labour the number of claims to unemployment benefit which have been rejected on the ground of not normally in insurable employment from the coming into operation of the new Act to the latest available date, and the same figures for the corresponding part of last year, disqualified on the not genuinely seeking work disqualification?
§ Miss BONDFIELDDuring the period 13th March to 9th June, 1930, out of 3,003,371 claims made 68,716 were disallowed by courts of referees in Great Britain on the ground that the applicants were not normally insurable and will not normally seek to obtain a livelihood by means of insurable employment. During the period 11th March to 10th June, 1929, out of 2,249,065 claims made 75,078 were disallowed on the ground "not genuinely seeking work."
§ Mr. STEPHENAre we to take it, then, that the "not normally insurable" condition is having practically the same effect as the "not genuinely seeking work" condition, seeing that the figures are so similar?
§ Miss BONDFIELDNo, Sir, you may not take it to be so.
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDHave a number who were previously disqualified
§ Miss BONDFIELDI will institute an inquiry as soon as possible, but I do not think that it is possible to do it now because the relevant facts are not available.
§ Following is the statement:
§ as "not genuinely seeking work" been disqualified as "not normally insurable" under the present interpretation?
§ Miss BONDFIELDNo, I think they are a different set of people. I think a great many of these people are people who in no circumstances would have received benefit.
§ Mr. BUCHANANWill the right hon. Lady say why the percentage of refusals is practically the same in the one case as in the other?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe proportion is very different.
§ 22. Mr. STEPHENasked the Minister of Labour if she is aware that applicants have been refused unemployment benefit on the grounds that they were not normally in insurable employment because they had failed to maintain registration previous to March of this year; and whether she can state what umpire's ruling or statutory condition or regulation lays down registration as necessary?
§ Miss BONDFIELDI am not aware that any claimants have been refused benefit under the "not normally" condition solely because of their failure to maintain registration for employment. The umpire has ruled that registration is a factor to be considered in determining whether the condition is satisfied, but 1443 claimants who have not maintained registration have been held in some cases to satisfy the condition, while others who have registered have been held not to satisfy the condition.
§ Mr. STEPHENWill the right hon. Lady make it perfectly plain to the courts of referees that this is the case, as it has been my experience that registration has been regarded as a necessary factor for benefit.
§ Miss BONDFIELDI always refer the umpire's decisions to courts of referees.
§ Mr. STEPHENWill the right hon. Lady again send the umpire's ruling to the court of referes?
§ Miss BONDFIELDYes, courts of referees are specially supplied with every umpire's decision.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThere are a good many other questions on the Paper.
Mr. MACLEANOn a point of Order! This is a matter of very serious importance. A large number of courts of referees in the West of Scotland are acting on the assumption that where the decision of the court is unanimous the applicant has no right to appeal to the umpire. That is the point which ought to be borne in mind.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is not a point of Order.