§ Mr. MAXTONasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that a number of lads were offered work as joiner apprentices by the shipbuilding firm of Dunlop, Bremner and Co.; that they were asked to sign indentures containing a condition that they must not 1545W join a union; and that the lads refused to sign the indentures and, in consequence, were refused unemployment benefit; and will he have this refusal reconsidered?
§ Mr. BETTERTONI am aware that a number of lads refused an offer of employment as apprentices under a form of indenture which contained a clause in the sense indicated by the hon. Member. In one case an objection by the lad's father to this particular clause was given as one of the reasons for refusing the employment offered. The umpire decided, having regard to all the circumstances, that the employment offered was suitable, and that benefit must therefore be disallowed. As the hon. Member is no doubt aware, the umpire's decision is final and conclusive.
§ Mr. LANSBURYasked the Minister of Labour how many persons since 1st November last have been refused further unemployment pay on the ground that, in the opinion of the committees considering the cases, the persons concerned have failed to prove that in normal times insurable employment suitable to their capacities would be likely to be available; how many have been refused because the committees told the applicants that they considered that there was failure to prove that the applicant during the two years immediately preceding the date of application for benefit had been employed in an insurable trade to such an extent as was reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case and, in particular, to the opportunities for obtaining insurable employment during that period; and how many have been refused out-of-work pay because the committee stated that they considered the applicant had failed to prove that he was making every reasonable effort to secure employment suited to his capacities and was willing to accept such employment?
§ Mr. BETTERTONBetween 11th November, 1924, and 8th June, 1925, the number of applications for extended benefit which were rejected by local employment committees in Great Britain because of failure to comply with the statutory conditions of Section 1 (3) of the1546W Unemployment Insurance Act, 1924. were as follows:
Not normally insurable 30,444 Insurable employment not likely to be available in normal times 13,177 Not a reasonable period of insured employment in last two years 81,281 Not making reasonable effort to find suitable employment or not willing to accept such employment 83,258 208,160 This number represents about 10 per cent. of the cases considered by committees.