§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average period for processing a claim under the temporary short time working compensation scheme.
§ Mr. Jim LesterBecause payments are made four weeks in arrears, there is in any case a period of some seven weeks between the time of receipt of an application and the first payment. However, the number of applications to join the scheme has increased very considerably in the last four months and as a result a period of some 13 weeks on average has elapsed before payments have been made to industry. We have already taken steps to speed up payments, and we are keeping the position under review.