(for Sir Herbert Williams) asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour whether he can state the number of people who have become insured under the Unemployment Insurance Acts for the first time during the last eight months and the corresponding figures for a similar period for a year previously?

Dur- ing the eight months September, 1939, to April, 1940, the number of new entrants to Unemployment Insurance in Great Britain was approximately 813,000. The corresponding figure for the period September, 1938, to April, 1939, was 547,000.