§ Mr. McMahonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost of benefits paid to the unemployed throughout the United Kingdom during 1981–82; and to what extent this varied from the expectations contained in the March 1981 public expenditure White Paper.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 26 May 1982, c. 331]: The estimated cost of unemployment and supplementary benefit paid to unemployed persons in the United Kingdom in 1981–82 was £4,452 million, an increase of £704 million on the estimate underlying "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1981–82 to 1983–84"—Cmnd. 8175.