§ Mr. HAYWARDasked the Minister of Labour whether he would give information in respect of the Unemployed Workers' Dependants (Temporary Pro- 619W vision) Act, 1921, for the period from the commencement of the Act to the end of last week, as to the total estimated contributions by insured persons and employers, the total actual contributions by insured persons and employers, the total estimated cost of benefits, the total actual cost of benefits, the estimated cost of administration, and the actual cost of administration under all heads?
§ Sir M. BARLOWOn the basis of the original Estimates the contributions from employers and workmen from 7th November, 1921, up to 4th February, 1922, amount to £1,600,000, the State Grant to about £1,285,000 (making a total of £2,888,500), and the administrative expenses to £280,000. So far as can be judged the contributions actually received have closely approximated to the Estimate and the administrative expenses are expected to be appreciably less, but precise accounts are not yet available. The dependants' grants paid during the same period have been rather more than £2,000,000. On the basis of the Estimate there should have been a deficit of over £400,000 at present, but in fact we have about that sum in hand. This is due to the fact that the proportion of married men among the unemployed is lower than was anticipated.