§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if she will break down in more detail the figure of 161,000 unemployed classified as "others registered for work" who do not receive either unemployment benefit or supplementary allowance;
(2) why, on the basis of recently published figures of the 656,000 classified as unemployed in August 1974, only 257,000, or 39 per cent., were receiving unemployment benefit.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe figures of those unemployed and registered for work who were not receiving unemployment benefit or supplementary allowance include those whose claims were not yet decided on the date on which the count was taken; and also those who were not then entitled either to unemployment benefit, because they were still serving waiting days, or to supplementary benefit, because they still had resources, in the shape of their last wages. Of the remainder who were not receiving unemployment benefit the major categories were those who had already received the maximum of 312 days' benefit, married women who had paid no contributions, and those people who had been disqualified for benefit for a period but continued to register for work. Those not receiving supplementary benefit included those who had sufficient resources to preclude title and married women who could not qualify in their own right.