§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Employment on what date the Government intend to implement that part of the Employment Protection Act which provides for the abolition of the financing and grade or class provisions of the trade dispute disqualification from unemployment benefit; and what is the estimated cost in a full year, on the basis of the 1975 statistics, of paying unemployment benefit to workers laid off through strikes in which they are not directly involved.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerSection 111 of the Employment Protection Act abolishes the financing and grade or class provisions of the trade dispute disqualification from unemployment benefit. My right hon. Friend announced on 13th October that it would come into effect on 1st February 1977. Information is not available on the cost of paying unemployment benefit to those who are laid off through strikes in which they are not directly involved. However, it is estimated that on the basis of the 1975 statistics the implementation of Section 111 would lead to annual additional expenditure of the order of £1.3 million in unemployment benefit but with 547W a saving in supplementary benefit of about half that amount.