§ Mr. Joel Barnettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the detailed assumptions of the figures for social security expenditure in Cmnd. 7746.
§ Mr. PrenticeNo. It has not been the practice of previous Governments to 441W divulge the detailed economic assumptions made in the social security programme and at this stage I see no reason to change that policy. But as my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said in the House on 1 November—[Vol. 972, c. 1453]—we have taken as a working assumption in making our plans that the unemployed will average 1.65 million in 1980–81.