§ 74. Sir Richard Aclandasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that officials of the Unemployment Assistance Board are, in certain cases, making in one week a payment appropriate to that week together with the allowance or part of the allowance that may fall due in some future week, and in other cases making payments to applicants by way of loan; further, that in other cases they recover from an applicant the sum or part of the sum which has been paid out to him to cover a specifically recognised public need; and will he state by what statutory authority these actions are done?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI am not clear as to what type of case the hon. Member refers in the first part of his question, but if he has any particular case in mind and will communicate with me I will have inquiry made. As regards the second part, the Board do not make payments of allowances by way of loan. As regards the third part, I assume that the hon. Member is referring to cases in which the Board make lump sum payments, in addition to the weekly allowance. In a small number of such cases the need for which the lump sum grant is made is of a kind for which the applicant might reasonably be expected to make provision out of his normal income and in such circumstances an adjustment of the weekly allowance is made under Clause IV 2 of the Statutory Regulations.
§ Mr. George GriffithsIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that there are certain exchanges where the employer loans the. train fare to the people who go there, which is taken out of their wages afterwards?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI am not aware of that.
§ Mr. GriffithsI thought not.