§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the reasons for the change in payments through the Redundancy Payments Scheme from 1999–2000 to 2002–03; and if she will make a statement. [91959]
§ Alan JohnsonThe total amount paid out by the Redundancy Payments Service before any deductions for Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions in the financial year 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 was £200.0 million. The corresponding figures for the financial years April 2000 to March 2001 and April 2001 to March 2002 were £229.7 millions and £278.7 million, respectively, an increase of just over 39 per cent. About three quarters of the increase is attributable to an increase in the numbers of claims over the period. The remainder is mainly due to successive increases in the statutory limits that apply to redundancy and other payments from the National Insurance Fund.