§ Mr. Shortasked the Minister of Labour whether he will state the total contributions made by the State, the employers, and the workers, respectively, under the 393W agricultural workers unemployment insurance scheme; the total benefits paid; the cost of administration; the amount of the surplus; and whether the statutory committee have made any recommendations?
§ Mr. E. BrownUp to 31st December, 1937, the approximate contribution income and expenditure of the Agricultural Account of the Unemployment Fund and the balance of the account on that date, were as follow:—
£ Contributions from employers (20 months) 880,000 Contributions from employed persons (20 months) 880,000 Exchequer contributions (20 months) 880,000 Benefit paid (14 months) 501,000 Appropriation for administration (20 months) 330,000 Balance (including Interest) 1,825,000 Contributions became payable in respect of the insurance of persons employed in agriculture as from 4th May, 1936, and benefit as from 5th November, 1936. The scheme was extended to include private gardeners as from 1st February, 1937.
The Unemployment Insurance Statutory Committee have not yet made their report on the financial condition of the Unemployment Fund (Agricultural Account) as at 31st December, 1937, but the report is due to be made before the end of this month.