§ Mr. Hunterasked the Minister of Labour what is the present state of the Redundancy Fund.
§ Mr. GunterThe amount paid out between 6th December, 1965, when the Act came into force, and 10th July, 1967, was £39,953,000. The Fund's income during the same period was £34,733,000. Outgoings have, therefore, exceeded income and, under the powers available in Section 35 of the Redundancy Payments Act, the difference has been met by temporary loans at present totalling £5,300,000 from the Consolidated Fund.
The Act provides that the aggregate amount outstanding in respect of loans from the Consolidated Fund may not exceed £8 million unless a higher figure (not exceeding £20 million) has been approved by Parliament. The incidence of payments from the Redundancy Fund cannot be forecast with any degree of certainty, and I have thought it right as a precautionary measure to ask Parliament for a limited and temporary extension of the borrowing powers. A draft Order has therefore been laid today increasing the limit from £8 million to £12 million for a period of twelve months.