HC Deb 24 June 1959 vol 607 c1185
38. Mr. Patrick Maitland

asked the Minister of Labour the number of persons registered as employed and unemployed, respectively, at the Lesmahagow Employment Exchange, Lanarkshire, at the last convenient date; and his estimate of the number of workpeople who have left the Douglas area since the beginning of the year.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Figures of employment are not available for any date later than May, 1958, when the estimated total number of employees in employment in the area of the Lesmahagow Employment Exchange was 3,830. At 15th June, 1959, there were 126 unemployed persons on the registers of that employment exchange. I have no information which enables me to estimate the number of workpeople who have left the area.

Mr. Maitland

Has my right hon. Friend no official information that about seventy families have had to pack up their things and go elsewhere to find work? Has he any knowledge of the likelihood of the next phase of closure of this colliery which may affect another 40 or 50 families and drive them away?

Mr. Macleod

One cannot estimate the number of workpeople who have left the area, because the figures may include people who have got jobs in other areas for other reasons. The figures of employment that I have given are only 50 less than in 1957 and 150 less than in 1958, although I am well aware that some families have left.