§ Mr. Whiteasked the Minister of Labour whether he can state the number of persons who have been refused allowances from the Unemployment Assistance Board on the grounds that they were not capable of work according to the Board but fit according to the public assistance committee standards?
§ Mr. ButlerIt is a condition for the receipt of unemployment assistance that the applicant must be capable of and available for work. There is no such condition attaching to the receipt of public assistance. I am, therefore, unable to give the hon. Member the information requested, but the Unemployment Assistance Board inform me that 7,200 persons who were in receipt of public assistance prior to the Second Appointed Day and applied for unemployment assistance allowances were held to be outside the scope of the Unemployment Assistance Act on the ground that they were not capable of or available for work. There is no information as to the number rejected on grounds of capability alone.