§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the annual cost of abolishing the 21-hour rule for unemployed people studying or being trained for more than 21 hours per week. [22781]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe 21-hour rule is a concession to help unemployed people who have left full-time education but who wish to take up part-time study or training while they are unemployed. There are insufficient data on which to base a reliable estimate of the cost of abolishing this rule.