§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total expenditure on Government-financed redundancy payments, unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit paid to unemployed persons, in each year from 1974–5 to the most recent date; and what proportion this represents of total Government revenue expenditure in each year.
§ Lord CockfieldTotal expenditure from the redundany fund, from the national insurance fund and from voted expenditure on redundancy payments, unemployment benefit and supplementary benefit paid to unemployed persons is shown in the table below.
Financial Year Expenditure £ million As% of total Public Expenditure 1974–75 … … … 452.4 2 1975–76 … … … 932.7 2 1976–77 … … … 1,212.0 3 1977–78 … … … 1,405.1 3 1978–79 … … … 1,436.8 3 1979–80 … … … 1,494.3 2 1980–81 … … … 2,687.0 3