§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list how much would be saved by allowing each of the following benefits to fall 1 per cent. below the rise in prices (a) flat rate unemployment benefit, (b) earnings related unemployment benefit, (c) all short term national insurance benefits (d) supplementary benefit paid to the unemployed, and (e) all supplementary allowances.
§ Mr. PrenticeOn the basis of the illustrative assumptions on the number of unemployed set out in the Government Actuary's report—Cmnd. 7771—the savings would be of the following order (a) £10 million (c) £15 million (d) £10 million and (e) £20 million. There would be no savings on (b) because the rate of earnings related benefit payable is not related to prices but to reckonable earnings in the relevant tax year.