§ 9 and 10. Mr. NEIL MACLEANasked the Minister of Labour (1), whether it is within the terms of the regulations for a determination committee, when assessing the needs of a claimant for transitional benefit who has been intermittently employed, to assess those needs after a period of employment in such a manner as to absorb the balance of the wages earned over his assessed needs;
(2), whether he is aware that in Aberdeen, when anyone on transitional benefit finds employment for a few weeks and again claims transitional benefit, the public assistance committee is taking into consideration three-quarters of the applicant's wages while at work, and where this proportion exceeds the amount of transitional benefit he had been receiving previous to his finding employment refuses to pay him any benefit until the excess of wages over the rate of transitional benefit is absorbed; and, seeing that this means that for several weeks claimants who have obtained a short period of work have to go without benefit for several weeks, and that such a method of assessment does not hold out any inducement to anyone in receipt of benefit 1854 to accept employment as his income while employed is reduced by three-fourths owing to this method, will he say what reply he has sent to the complaints he has received against this rule of the Aberdeen public assistance committee?
Mr. HUDSONI would refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave on the 13th July last to a question by him on this subject, in which he stated that he had no reason to believe that authorities do not fully appreciate the importance of not discouraging men from finding employment. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the reply given to the representations made about the practice of the public assistance committee of Aberdeen.
§ Mr. MACLEANHas nothing been done since July of last year until now to stop this practice of the Aberdeen Public Assistance Committee?
Mr. HUDSONI am sending the hon. Member a copy of a letter which was sent to Mr. Hill, of the Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders' Society.
§ Mr. MACLEANAs the reply is absolutely unsatisfactory, in view of the long continuance of this practice and the inaction of the Minister of Labour in regard to stopping it, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter at the first opportunity on the Motion of the Adjournment of the House.
Mr. HUDSONThe hon. Member will recollect that my right hon. Friend, in his reply of the 13th July, pointed out specifically that the matter was one within the discretion of the local authorities, and not one in which we have any power to issue instructions. My right hon. Friend, therefore, can take no effective action.
§ Mr. MACLEANIf the reply which the Parliamentary Secretary has just given is meant to suggest that I should withdraw my notice to raise this matter on the Adjournment Motion, I must insist upon raising it, because I consider that the Ministry of Labour have the power to stop this practice.