HC Deb 15 July 1968 vol 768 cc1021-2
26. Mr. Donald Williams

asked the Minister of Social Security what steps she plans to take to prevent an unemployed person receiving more in social security payments than he could reasonably expect to earn in his own district.

Mrs. Hart

Improvement of family allowances, which are paid whether a man is in work or not, and the corres- ponding reduction of National Insurance children's allowances, which are paid when a man is unemployed, have already eased the position and the process will be taken a step further with the changes due in October. Supplementary benefit payments are already restricted, where necessary, so that a person's income is no greater than it would be if he were working full time in his normal occupation.

Mr. Williams

In thanking the right hon. Lady for her Answer to this and previous Questions on the subject, may I ask whether she would not agree with and stress the importance of a man being in employment and also ensure that incentives will be given to such people to go out and get work?

Mrs. Hart

It is because this is very much in our minds that it is important that the increases in family allowances themselves improve the relative position very considerably.

Mr. Gwilym Roberts

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that the responsibility here lies largely with employers who are paying too low salaries for employment? Would not my right hon. Friend accept that the situation which applies in this Question and also in Question No. 15 will continue to arise to some extent until we have a form of something like negative Income Tax?

Mrs. Hart

No, I would not agree entirely with the conclusion drawn by my hon. Friend towards the end of that question. A number of very difficult problems are involved in the concept of negative Income Tax, some of which can be answered and some of which it is difficult to answer. It is, however, true that low wage earners tend to consist, in part at least, of wage earners in occupations which have traditionally been paid very low wages. There are also special problems such as those of the partly disabled and the disabled worker. These are separate problems requiring separate attention.