§ Mr. THORNEasked the Minister of Labour whether he intends to issue a White Paper showing the amount of benefit arrears that have been repaid to the various local authorities, and the number of persons affected?
§ Mr. BATEYasked the Minister of Labour the amount of money which has been repaid to the unemployed by the Unemployment Assistance Board?
Mr. STANLEYpursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 21st February, 1935; col. 504, Vol. 298] supplied the following statement:
Payment of all claims for arrears of unemployment assistance allowances under the provisions of the Unemployment Assistance (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1935, has now been completed, either under the arrangements made with certain local authorities for interim payments to claimants during the week ended 9th February, 1935, or at local offices of the Ministry to claimants attending during or subsequent to the week ended 16th February. The total amount so paid is approximately £100,000 and relates to payments in respect of periods before the week ending 16th February. Payments in respect of that week were made in full in accordance with the Unemployment Assistance (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1935. The local authorities concerned have not all submitted claims in respect of the part payments to claimants under the arrangements referred to, but from the information available it is anticipated that the total of the claims will be approximately £3,000 in respect of about 8,000 persons to whom the payments were made; the total of £3,000 is included in the figure of £100,000 referred to above.