§ 7. Mr. Dempseyasked the President of the Board of Trade how many additional jobs will be provided in Coatbridge and Airdrie and North Lanarkshire, respectively, during the second half of 1962.
§ Mr. ErrollWithin the next twelve months between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs are likely to arise in North Lanarkshire from new building and other developments reported to the Board of Trade. Of these, over 500 are in Catbridge and Airdrie. I cannot estimate how many of these will arise in the next five months.
§ Mr. DempseyIs the Minister aware that this is one of the consistently high-rated areas of unemployment? Does he realise that in some parts of the constituency we have as much as 11.5 per cent. of the labour force unemployed? Does he not agree that there is need for an even greater effort than is being made to attempt to resolve the shocking unemployment situation in this part of the country?
§ Mr. ErrollWe are making the best efforts we possibly can in this important matter. North Lanarkshire is a single closely-knit travel-to-work area and, therefore, there is room for a certain amount of movement of workers to new factories from their present places of residence. In North Lanarkshire itself, there are nearly 7,000 jobs in prospect: so we are having some success in this difficult area.