§ 20. Dr. Kingasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will set up a committee to inquire into minor anomalies of unemployment insurance benefit.
§ The Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (Mr. John Boyd-Carpenter)No, Sir. But if the hon. Member will let me have particulars of the points he has in mind, I will gladly look into them.
§ Dr. KingMay I first welcome the Minister back to the Dispatch Box? We 12 all know the keen interest that he takes in his Department. As an example of anomaly, is the Minister aware that a casual dock worker, if he is on very short time and gets an odd day or two's work, is penalised financially because he belongs to a system which theoretically is working a five-day week? Will the right hon. Gentleman look into the problem, which I raised with him in the last Parliament?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am grateful to the hon. Member for his prefatory observations. I am aware of the problem, particularly in relation to ship repairing, and I should be glad to discuss it with the hon. Member.
§ Mr. PrenticeIs there not a special case for looking at the regulations on unemployment benefit as they affect people who lose work as a result of a trade dispute? Is it not a fact that, as the regulations stand and the National Insurance Act is framed at the moment, many categories when they are put out work as a result of an industrial dispute lose benefit although they are not participating in the dispute? Will the right hon. Gentleman look at that problem?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs the hon. Member no doubt knows, the trade dispute qualification has been subject to a great deal of consideration since what is substantially the present form of words was enacted in 1927. The present words are in the 1946 Act, but I must say that I have not had my attention drawn since to any more effective formula.