§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the cost of paying unemployed persons a bonus of four weeks' benefit for each complete year of unemployment in respect of up to three complete years' unemployment and the number of persons in each year group.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information is given in the table. The number of unemployed persons represents those who were in receipt of unemployment or supplementary benefit in Great Britain in November 1984, the latest date for which figures are available.
Duration of Unemployment Unemployed Persons Number of Weeks bonus per person Cost £ million Between 1 and 2 years 425,100 4 65.4 Between 2 and 3 years 244,800 8 75.3 Over 3 years 346,400 12 159.8 Total 1,016,300 300.5