§ Mr. Leeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will revise the operation of the rules governing the amount of work that unemployed persons are permitted to engage in without loss of benefit, bearing in mind that demoralisation inherent in enforced idleness is important second only to direct economic loss.
§ Mr. OrmeA person who is registered as unemployed but who nevertheless is engaged in some employment can, in certain circumstances, earn up to 75p a day before his unemployment benefit is withdrawn. This limit is intended to ensure that the amount of work done is so negligible as to be consistent with the full-time employment for which the person must be available, and to prevent the total net income that could be derived from unemployment benefit plus earnings becoming a disincentive to full-time work. I have no proposals for a change in these provisions.