§ Mr. Maclennanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will review the operation of the seasonal workers' unemployment benefit regulations with a view to determining the extent to which they operate as a disincentive to seeking seasonal employment.
§ Mr. RossiWe have recently reviewed the position and concluded that, for financial and other reasons, we could not at present make any change in the provisions, apart from removing the "registration conditions", as we did last October. I recognise that a few unemployed people may be deterred from seeking seasonal work by the prospect of being treated as a seasonal worker. However, a pattern of seasonal work extending over a period of at least three years is usually required before the provisions apply, so that claimants who take seasonal jobs will most often get more unemployment benefit over a period than they would have received if they had remained unemployed and exhausted their year's entitlement to unemployment benefit. I would add that these regulations do not apply to supplementary benefit so that an unemployed seasonal workers can receive that benefit if otherwise eligible.