§ Mr. Roderickasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total amount paid out in unemployment benefit and in redundancy payments in the United Kingdom in the last six months; and what are the corresponding figures for Wales.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI am not able to give figures for the whole of the United Kingdom as unemployment benefit and redundancy payments in Northern Ireland are administered by the Northern Ireland Government under separate Acts.
In Great Britain, the total amount of unemployment benefit paid in the six months ended 13th February, 1971, which is the most convenient period for which statistics can be given, was £79,620,756 12s. 10d. Of this, £4,514,360 5s. 10d. was paid in Wales.
In Great Britain, redundancy payments to employees in the six months ended 31st March, 1971, totalled about £38 million. Of this total, about £18 million was borne by employers and the remainder by the Redundancy Fund. Owing to the postal strike, the figures are in the nature of an assessment for the period since mid-February. No figures for Wales are available.