§ Major ELLIOTasked the Minister of Labour whether she can give the calculations showing the reason for the balancing point of the Unemployment Insurance Fund now being placed at £1,240,000 as compared with the figure of £1,200,000 given when the previous Act was introduced?
§ Miss BONDFIELDThe changes made in the Unemployment Insurance Bill during its passage through Parliament affected the balancing point of the Unemployment Fund in two ways. So far as they increased the rate of payment per head of the register in respect of benefit paid otherwise than under the transitional conditions they reduced the balancing point to a corresponding extent. On the other hand, so far as they increased the numbers of persons in receipt of benefit under the transitional conditions they raised the balancing point, since the cost of that benefit was charged to the Exchequer. The net effect was to increase the balancing point, as estimated, from 1,200,000 to 1,240,000. I should add that it was also estimated that 80,000 persons previously unemployed but not on the Exchange registers would under the amended conditions register and, according to this estimate, a live register of 1,240,000 under the amended conditions would represent the same amount of actual unemployment as a live register of 1,160,000 previously.