§ 1. Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he remains satisfied with the procedures and cost of paying arrears of unemployment benefit.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. John Golding)I am satisfied that procedures for paying unemployment benefit which become due for past periods meet the requirements of social security regulations, and that the costs of making such payments are not generally excessive, although the procedure is sometimes necessarily less than perfect when very small balances remain to be paid to the claimant.
§ Mr. DempseyIs my hon. Friend aware that one of my constituents who 198 returned from England had arrears of unemployment benefit amounting to 3p forwarded to him from an English employment exchange? Does he agree that the cost of purchasing paper, preparing it, issuing it and posting it by Giro is much more than 3p? Should we not adopt a more acceptable and economic practice for the payment of small sums of benefit?
§ Mr. GoldingWe would have been in a serious situation if a Scot had left England with the English owing him 3p. We are bound under the regulations to make the payment, although the circumstances under which this particular payment was made certainly deserve consideration.