The probationary period may include the time during which the man has been employed on Government-assisted works under previous schemes.
The reduced rate (for the probationary period) must be calculated to the nearest farthing per hour.
(c) All unskilled labour to be obtained through the Employment Exchanges, which give preference to ex-Service men, and do not submit unskilled men for engagement unless they have been registered at an Employment Exchange for at least seven days.
4. POOR LAW RELIEF
In this country the traditional method of alleviating distress resulting from unemployment has been by Poor Law relief administered by Boards of Guardians. During 1920 and 1921, many persons who were uninsured and faced with destitution, and many persons who, though insured, found the benefit insufficient for the maintenance of themselves and their families, came to the Guardians for relief. There were three times as many people in receipt of out-door relief during the winter of 1921-22 as there were in 1915, and two and a half times as many as in 1910. This has necessitated the raising of large sums by Guardians and heavy increases in the Poor Law element in local rates. The administration of out-door relief under circumstances such as the present is a matter of the greatest difficulty. Guardians are, not unnaturally, disposed on humane grounds to give relief on as generous a scale as possible, which varies according to the Guardians’ views and the district. On the other hand, this results in heavy charges on ratepayers, and a preference in many of the able-bodied recipients for doles instead of work, and possibly thereby an aggravation of unemployment. The general supervision of the work of the Guardians falls to the Ministry of Health, and that Department has undoubtedly discharged that invidious duty with judgment and efficiency.
Principles Governing Administration of Relief
By a circular letter dated December 29, 1920, the Minister of Health directed the attention of Guardians to the fact that under Article 12 of the Relief Regulation Order, 1911, they could not grant outdoor relief on a wholesale scale, or depart from the standard prescribed by that article unless under special circumstances—they were, therefore, bound to examine into the special circumstances of each particular case, and report to him any departure from the ordinary practice. This was a most necessary admonition in view of the amount being distributed from State funds in the shape of out-of-work donation and pensions. Again, by Circular 240 dated September 8, 1921, the Minister of Health reverted to this important matter and indicated the rules which, in his opinion, and that of the Association of Poor Law Unions, should govern the administration of relief. The first was that as Poor Law relief should be restricted to what was necessary to relieve distress, the amount thereof should be calculated on a lower scale than the earnings of the independent workman maintaining himself by his own labour. I need hardly stop to criticize the Labour contention that the relief should be of no less amount than the full Trade Union rate of wages of the recipient—it would be as demoralizing to the recipient as it would be disastrous to the community. The second rule was that no relief should be given without full investigation of the circumstances of each applicant, obtaining from the latter a signed statement of the total income of the household from all sources. The third rule was that the greater proportion of the relief granted should be given not in money but in kind, i.e. goods supplied on presentation of an order drawn on the Guardians’ own out-relief distribution stores or on local tradesmen. Guardians were further urged to make, by way of loan, all relief given to or on account of any person over twenty-one, or to his wife or any member of his family under sixteen, in cases where there was a reasonable prospect of the recipient being able to repay within a reasonable period.
Ascertainment of Applicant’s Income
A very important scheme for the voluntary registration of income from public sources such as pensions, allowances or grants from the Ministry of Pensions, or Local War Pensions Committees, unemployment benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Acts, dependents’ allowances under the Unemployed Workers’ Dependents (Temporary Provision) Act, 1921, and from other sources, was put into operation with great success in certain local districts under the auspices of the National Council of Social Service, which pressed the general adoption of the scheme upon the Government. A somewhat analogous scheme was later outlined by the Minister of Health for districts where such voluntary registration schemes were not in operation, which is described in Circular 261 dated November 23, 1921, and provided that similar information should be communicated by the Government Departments concerned to Boards of Guardians. At the same time, the Minister warmly endorsed the principle of voluntary registration. Guardians ought, of course, before giving out-door relief, to ascertain the weekly income of all the members of an applicant’s household. The only sources of income which are not to be included are the first 5s. received from a Friendly Society as sick pay (Outdoor Relief (Friendly Societies) Act, 1904) and the first 7s. 6d. of sickness benefit (National Insurance Act, 1911, as amended by the National Health Insurance Act, 1920). On the other hand, Section 6 of the Unemployed Workers’ Dependents (Temporary Provision) Act, 1921, suspended during the currency of that Act (i.e. up to May 10, 1922) the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, forbidding Guardians to take account of the first 10s. of unemployment benefit. Section 14 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1922, made this suspension permanent and further enables benefit due to any person in respect of any period to be paid to the Guardians, if and so far as they have given that person out-door relief which they would not have given if the benefit had been punctually paid.