§ 92. Ms. ArmstrongTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what savings he expects to make by 523W introducing the rule that a claimant of unemployment benefit must have a minimum of two years consecutive employment.
§ Mr. ScottClause 5 of the Social Security Bill does not require that a claimant for unemployment benefit must have a minimum of two years consecutive employment. It requires that a person will have to satisfy the contribution condition of having an earnings factor of 50 times the lower earnings level from contributions paid or credited in the last two tax years before the start of the benefit year instead of the last one year as now, and that in one of those years the earnings factor from contributions actually paid must be not less than 25 times the lower earnings limit. The estimated savings arising from this measure are about £70 million in a full year (as shown in the explanatory and financial memorandum of the Bill).