§ Mr. CallaghanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the total current cost of unemployment to the Exchequer including benefits, administrative costs and lost revenue.
Mr. JacksonThe latest available estimate of gross benefit payments to the unemployed in 1991–92 is £5,590 million. The cost of administering unemployment benefit in 1989–90, the latest year for which figures are available, was £176 million. Administration costs for other benefits paid to the unemployed cannot be separately identified. Estimates of tax revenue foregone are not available.