§ 35. Mr. BATEYasked the Minister of Labour if be can state the number of supplementary benefit cases reduced and the number disallowed by the commissioners in the county of Durham since 1st December, 1932; and the total amount of money saved and the cost of the commissioners and their staff?
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Sir Henry Betterton)The total number of determinations given by the commissioners in Durham County on applications for transitional payments during the period 5th December, 1932 to 4th March, 1933, was 118,400, including 28,218 cases in which payment was allowed at rates lower than the maximum benefit rates and 6,387 in which the needs of applicants were held not to justify payment being made. These figures include renewals and revisions as well as initial applications. It is estimated that the expenditure on 2571 transitional payments during the period from the 5th December, 1932, up to the 4th March, 1933, was about £70,000 less than if all the determinations current during the period had been given by the public assistance committee in accordance with their practice prior to December. The total cost of the commissioners and their staff from 1st December, 1932, to 28th February, 1933, was about £14,000 in addition to non-recurrent charges amounting to about £2,100.