§ 7. Mr. Edelmanasked the the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the rise in unemployment and short-time working in the Coventry area; and what action he is taking to remedy this position.
§ Mr. HareYes, I am aware of the increase, but most of the workers registered are temporarily stopped. My local officers are doing all they can to help those who are seeking alternative employment.
§ Mr. EdelmanIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that unemployment has gone up substantially, from 1,622 in 1962 to 2,276 at the last count, not to mention the number of men on short time, which really is another form of concealed unemployment? As Coventry depends on three major industries each of which is suffering from the danger of unemployment, and the aircraft industry in particular is threatened with 3,000 redundancies, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he would urge the 7 Government particularly to try at this stage to send more aircraft work into Coventry?
§ Mr. HareI will certainly ask my right hon. Friend to take note of the latter part of what the hon. Member has said, but we must get this matter clear. The hon. Member asked about the Coventry area. It is true that there has been an increase of about 5,000 in unemployment figures this year against January last year, but the increase in the temporarily stopped amounts to 4,158 more than in January last year. That is why I think it is true to say that the major part of the increase in the figures is because of the temporarily stopped. I think that the motor car industry, as a result of the action taken by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, should have greater demands on it during the rest of this year.