§ Mr. HACKINGasked the Minister of Labour whether she will introduce at an early date a Bill to amend the Unemployment Insurance Acts in order that persons engaged in training without pay may no longer of necessity be regarded as in employment and therefore ineligible for unemployment benefit.
§ Miss BONDFIELDThere is at present no express provision in the Unemployment Insurance Acts with regard to persons undergoing training without pay, and in accordance with the Umpire's decisions, the question whether they are entitled to benefit depends on the precise circumstances. As regards legislation, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. A. Bevan) on 10th July.
§ Mr. EDMUNDSasked the Minister of Labour whether she will take steps to provide for the payment when due of unemployment benefit for which there is a perfectly valid claim when for some department reason or other the claim has been sent to Kew by the local exchange?
§ Miss BONDFIELDI do not understand what kind of case my hon. Friend has in mind, and should be obliged if he would give me particulars.
§ Sir A. POWNALLasked the Minister of Labour what is the category of unemployment cases in which the onus of proof has so far been thrown upon the man as a matter of policy?
§ Miss BONDFIELDSection 1 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1927, lays upon the applicant the onus of proving that he satisfies the statutory conditions for receipt of benefit.
§ Mr. D. GRAHAMasked the Minister of Labour the number of claims for unemployment insurance benefit which have been disallowed in Scotland during the 229W year 1928; how many of these claims were disallowed by the chief insurance officer; how many were referred to courts of referees; and how many were disallowed benefit by courts of referees' decision?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe following statement gives the particulars for which my hon. Friend asks: Determination of claims to unemployment benefit made in Scotland:
Total number of fresh and renewal claims made 1st January, 1928, to 14th January, 1929 1,106,062 Claims for extended benefit considered by Local Employment Committees 17th January, 1928, to 18th April, 1928 119,046 Number recommended for disallowance 19,888 Claims disallowed by insurance officers 1st January, 1928, to 14th January, 1929 84,822 Claims recommended for disallowance by Courts of Referees on review after payment of 78 days' benefit, July, 1928, to 14th January, 1929 3,752 Total number of claims disallowed 108,462 Number of appeals against disallowance by insurance officers considered by Courts of Referees, 1st January, 1928, to 14th January, 1929 24,821 Number recommended for disallowance 14,968 The above figures relate to claims to benefit, and not to separate individuals.
§ Mr. WALLHEADasked the Minister of Labour whether she proposes immediately to introduce legislation to prevent the umpire from debarring unemployed persons from receiving benefit who have been restored during the transitory period?
§ Miss BONDFIELDI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the question on this point asked by the hon. Member for Spennymoor (Mr. Batey) on 9th July. As regards legislation, I can add nothing to the reply given by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. A. Bevan) on 10th July.
230W
§ Mr. HOPKINasked the Minister of Labour how many persons have been refused unemployment benefit during the month of June in the county of Carmarthen; and on what grounds the applicants have been refused benefit?
§ 10 Miss BONDFIELDThe following statement gives the figures required.
Disallowances of claims to unemployment benefit made at Employment Exchanges in the county of Carmarthen during the periodth May, 1929, toth June, 1929.
Reasons for disallowance. Number. (a) Disallowances by Insurance Officers.* Permanent provisions:— Not unable to obtain suitable employment 17 Not genuinely seeking work 65 Employment lost through misconduct 13 Employment left voluntarily without just cause 11 Other causes 8 Transitional provisions: — Not normally insurable and not seeking to obtain a livelihood by means of insurable employment 2 Not a reasonable period of insurable employment during the preceding two years 35 Total 151 (b) Claims recommended for disallowance by Courts of Referees on review after payment of 78 days' benefit. Not genuinely seeking work 12 Total disallowances 163 The total number of fresh and renewal claims to benefit made during the period was 4,394. * In a number of these cases the decisions were reversed on appeal to Courts of Referees.
§ Mr. GRAHAM WHITEasked the Minister of Labour if she will review the Regulation whereby unemployment benefit is disallowed to insured persons 231W on. attaining the age of 65, and in particular to insure that evidence as to age on which action is taken will also be accepted by the Ministry of Health as evidence of entitlement to contributory pensions?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe cessation of unemployment benefit at the age of 65 is statutory and I have no discretion in the matter. As regards the second part of the question, it is necessary that the age should be verified, and if claimants will put in their application for a pension in good time, as they are urged to do, no difficulty arises. I may add that as was stated by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Health, in reply to a question on 11th July, the possibility of dealing specially with the class of case to which the hon. Member refers is being considered in connection with an amending Bill which is being prepared at the Ministry of Health.
— 19th July, 1928 to 14th January, 1929 15th January, 1929 to 10th June, 1929 Cases considered 775,555 593,235 Cases allowed 744,337 565,006 Cases recommended for disallowance:— Permanent Provisions— Not unable to obtain suitable employment 55 42 Not genuinely seeking work 30,654 27,733 Other grounds 214 417 Transitional provisions— Not a reasonable period of insurable employment during the preceding two years. 289 36 Other grounds 6 1 Total recommended for disallowance 31,218 28,229
§ Major NATHANasked the Minister of Labour whether she proposes during the present Session to take action to secure the abolition of the existing gap period as a condition of qualification for unemployment insurance benefit; and, if so, will she state the nature of such action?
§ Mr. GRAHAM WHITEasked the Minister of Labour (1) if she is aware of the hardship caused by the disallowance of dependants' benefit in respect of housekeepers of insured men as soon as. the youngest child attains the age of 14; and if she will take steps to amend this Regulation;
232W
§ Sir A. KNOXasked the Minister of Labour whether, seeing that the result of a sample inquiry into the live register of the unemployed carried out in April, 1927, showed that about 300,000 individuals were seriously unemployed and the remaining workers were in and out of employment in the course of the year and, seeing that all those who have drawn benefit for more than six months have for some months past had their claims specially reviewed by the Court of Referees, she is able to make any statement or give any statistics as to the result of those reviews?
§ Miss BONDFIELDUnder the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Acts a claim to benefit is reviewed by a Court of Referees when 78 days' benefit has been paid within a prescribed period not exceeding six months. The following table gives the results of this procedure during the period 10th July, 1928, to 10th June, 1929:
(2) if she intends to take action to reduce the waiting period for unemployment benefit from six days to three days?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe provisions referred to are statutory and could not be altered without legislation. As regards dependent children, I may point out that the allowance may continue up to the age of 16 if the child is under full-time instruction at a day school.
§ Mr. SCOTTasked the Minister of Labour what was the number of applications for unemployment benefit refused during April, May, and June, 1929, respectively, at the Employment Exchanges 233W at Stonehaven, Laurencekirk, and Banchory; and the principal reasons for such disallowances?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe following table shows the number of disallowances of
— Banchory. Laurencekirk. Stonehaven. 4 weeks ending 8–4–29 5 weeks ending 13–5–29 4 weeks ending10–6–29 4 weeks ending 8–4–29 5weeks ending13–5–29 4 weeks ending 10–6–29 4 weeks ending 8–4–29 5 weeks ending 13–5–29 4 weeks ending 10–6–29 (a) Claims disallowed by Insurance oficers. Permanent provisions. Not genuinely seeking work. 1 4 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 Employment lost through misconduct. 2 1 — — — — — — — Employment left voluntarily without just cause. 3 1 — — — — — — — Transitional provisions. Not normally insurable and not seeking to obtain a livelihood by means of insurable employment. — — — 1 — — — — — Total 6 6 1 3 2 3 3 4 4
(b) Claims recommended for disallowance by Courts of Referees on review after payment of 78 days' benefit. Not genuinely seeking work. — — — — — — 1 1 2 Total — — — — — — 1 1 2 Number of fresh and Renewal claims to benefit made during period. 40 41 21 18 15 23 121 105 77
§ Sir R. GOWERasked the Minister of Labour how many applications for unemployment benefit have been refused during the month of June in the C5hat-ham and Gillingham (Kent) district, and upon -what grounds such applications were, respectively refused?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe following table shows the number of disallowances of claims to benefit made at the Chatham and Rochester Employment Exchanges during the period 14th May, 1929, to 10th June, 1929, classified according to the reasons for disallowance:
234Wclaims to benefit made at these Employment Exchanges during the period 12th March, 1929, to 10th June, 1929, classified according to the reasons for disallowance:
235W
Reason for Disallowance. Number. (a) Claims disallowed by Insurance Officers.* Permanent Provisions. Not unable to obtain suitable employment 10 Not genuinely seeking work 132 Employment lost through misconduct 18 Employment left voluntarily without just cause 29 Other grounds 4
Transitional conditions. Not a reasonable period of insurable employment during the preceding two years 26 Other grounds 2 Total 221
(b) Claims recommended for disallowance by Courts of Referees on review after payment of 78 days' benefit. Not genuinely seeking work 12 Total disallowances 233 The total number of fresh and renewal claims to benefit made during the same period was 1,474. * In a number of these cases the decisions were reversed on appeal to Courts of Referees.