asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the average cost of unemployment benefit payable to a man who had been earning the average industrial wage before becoming unemployed for the first year of unemployment; and what is his latest estimate of the total annual cost of unemployment benefit for the current financial year.

The average amount of unemployment benefit, including dependency increases, currently paid to men receiving the standard rate of benefit is £29·65 a week. The rate of benefit depends on a man's contribution record and not directly on the level of his earnings, but a man who earned average earnings throughout the relevant contribution year would receive the standard rate of benefit. The latest estimate of the total cost of unemployment benefit for 1982–83 is £1,650 million.