asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the amounts in each of the financial years 1965–66 to 1975–76 paid into the Redundancy Fund, the amounts paid out and the balances remaining.

As shown in the annual Redundancy Fund accounts published by HMSO, receipts and outgoing payments from the Fund and the balance at the end of each financial year are as follows:

Year ending 31st March			Income £ million	Expenditure £ million	Balance £ million
6th December 1965 to 31st March 1966			5·3	2·7	+2·5
1967	…	…	19·9	26·7	-4·3
1968	…	…	34·5	41·2	-11·0
1969	…	…	44·4	51·2	-17·8
1970	…	…	51·2	37·1	-3·6
1971	…	…	50·4	43·1	+3·7
1972	…	…	52·5	62·6	-6·4
1973	…	…	51·9	49·1	-3·7
1974	…	…	51·0	33·6	+13·8
1975	…	…	52·5	50·5	+15·8
1976	…	…	91·2	109·7	-2·7

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the weekly amounts per male and female employee payable by employers into the Redundancy Fund in each of the financial years 1965–66 to 1975–76.

Prior to 6th April 1975 the Redundancy Fund was financed by flat-rate contributions collected from employers as part of the national insurance contribution. The rates were as follows:

	Weekly rate
	Men	Women
6th December 1965	5d	2d
6th February 1967	l0d	5d
2nd September 1968	1s 3d (6·3p)	7d (2·9p)

Since 6th April 1975 the Fund has been financed by an allocation from the secondary class 1 earnings-related contributions paid by employers in respect of employed earners. The current allocation is equivalent to 0·2 per cent. of the amount of earnings in respect of which these contributions are paid.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will give actual figures or the best estimate available of payments to and receipts from the Redundancy Fund by firms of different sizes.

I regret that actual figures are not available and we do not have sufficient information about the incidence of redundancy according to the size of firms to be able to make reasonable estimates. However, the average rebate payable from the Fund during 1976 to employers was approximately £309 for each employee made redundant and the allocation to the Redundancy Fund is 2p for each £10 of earnings in respect of which secondary class I contributions are payable.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the dates and amounts of all the adjusting payments made to the Redundancy Fund previous to the payment in December 1976; and what was the actual amount of the last payment.

Allocations to the Redundancy Fund, made under Section 134 of the Social Security Act 1975, are paid weekly from the National Insurance Fund on the basis of estimates supplied by the Government Actuary. These estimates are reviewed from time to time and any necessary adjusting payments are made. Prior to the introduction of earnings-related contributions on 6th April 1975 only relatively minor adjustments were necessary because the contribution income was very stable. Since that date the following adjustments have been made:

Date			Amount £ million
1st October 1975	…	…	+5·5
15th October 1975	…	…	+0·8
3rd December 1975	…	…	+1·0
5th February 1976	…	…	+1·0
31st March 1976	…	…	+1·0
2nd December 1976	…	…	+6·2

PROJECTS CURRENTLY UNDER WAY
Sponsor		Number of Jobs	Description
Vishwa Hindu Parishad	…	10	Renovations to community centre.
Bolton Employment Co-operative	…	14	Recycling household items.
Task Force North	…	25	Lever park—environmental improvements.
Bolton CVS	…	15	Social and welfare work.
Bolton Council for Community Relations	…	3	Language teaching material.
Bury Borough Council	…	6	Gardening for aged.
Bury Council of Voluntary Service	…	7	Neighbourhood care.
Bury MBC	…	7	Clearance of sites.
Age Concern	…	9	Renovation of offices.
Bury MBC	…	6	Allotment sites.
Age Concern	…	8	Survey of pensioners.
Bury Area Health Authority	…	6	Updating records.
Oldham MBC	…	2	Referencing system.
Oldham MBC	…	1	Creation of archives.
Oldham MBC	…	3	Social service provisions.
Oldham District Council	…	2	Office for advice services.
Oldham Welfare Rights Group	…	1	Welfare rights project.
Oldham MBC	…	5	Maintenance programme.
Oldham MBC	…	1	Storage of deeds.
Oldham MBC	…	8	Community aids.
Oldham and District Communjty Council	…	1	Information project.
Oldham and District Community Council	…	1	Develop neighbourhood service.
Family Service Units	…	9	Social work.
Oldham District Community Council	…	2	Advice office.
Oldham MBC	…	1	Storage of deeds.
Oldham MBC	…	2	Conservation of archives.
Oldham Youth Action	…	5	Assistance to housebound.