Employment Returns (Hansard, 23 July 1964)

HC Deb 23 July 1964 vol 699 cc663-4 663

§ 8. Mr. W. Hamilton
asked the Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development what steps he has taken to implement the recommendation made in the Report by the Estimates Committee on the working of the Local Employment Act, 1960, that regular quarterly statistics should be produced showing the number of new jobs actually provided as a result of the operation of the Act.

§ Mr. Heath
A quarterly series of employment returns was instituted in March, 1963. Returns are obtained on a sampling basis from firms receiving financial assistance under the Local Employment Acts. I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a summary of the results for the year 1960–61.

§ Mr. Hamilton
Are there no more recent figures? Is it not the case that when the reply was given to the Estimates Committee it was indicated that the firms had been asked in August, 1963, for information concerning their employment at 31st March and 30th June, 1963? Why cannot the right hon. Gentleman give the figures for which the Estimates Committee asked, even though the Government believe that they might be misleading or might not convey the whole picture? Since an all-party committee of this House asked for this information, should it not now be provided?

§ Mr. Heath
We are under no obligation to provide the information because we have given an explanation to the Committee about why we think it is not practicable to handle it. The reason why I am not providing later figures is that recruitment is still not completed for some of the projects since that date, even for some of those for which I am giving figures for 1960–61. I therefore do not propose to give figures to the House which, as the hon. Gentleman himself said, could be misleading.

§ Mr. Hamilton
Why does the right hon. Gentleman take it upon himself 664 not to issue these figures because he thinks they might be misleading? This House has a right to the statistics and it is for hon. Members to decide whether or not they are misleading.

§ Mr. Heath
If the figures are not complete I feel that I am entirely justified in not giving them to the House. We are doing our utmost to meet the requests of hon. Members, even though that involves an immense amount of work for industry and the Department. Both of those things have to be taken into account. If recruitment is not completed the figures themselves are, to a large extent, valueless; and I do not believe that I would be justified in producing them.

§ Mr. Hamilton
On a point of order. In view of the very unsatisfactory nature of those answers I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter on the Adjournment.

Following is the summary: In accordance with the recommendation by the Estimates Committee in its Seventh Report in Session 1962–63 (paragraph 38(2)) the Board of Trade has instituted a quarterly series of returns by a substantial sample of firms receiving assistance under the Local Employment Acts with a view to discovering the number of jobs that have been created as a result. The latest inquiry, made at the end of March, 1964, showed that the projects included in the sample, which accounted for 89 per cent. of the potential employment in projects offered assistance in 1960–61, had so rar provided 29,160 jobs. This was 72 per cent. of the number of jobs which the firms estimated, at the time that they applied for assistance, would eventually be provided when recruitment was completed. If the progress of recruitment has been similar in the projects not covered by the inquiry the total number of jobs created by March, 1964, in all the projects offered assistance in 1960–61 would be 32,750. The total is likely to be larger than this since the sample relates to larger projects in respect of which the period of labour recruitment is relatively long, and indeed in some cases the process of recruitment of labour has not yet been completed. The total amount of assistance in all forms that was offered for these projects was £42.8 million and the original estimates were that they would provide 45,900 jobs. Since the inquiry covers only a sample of projects the results do not provide a basis for indicating progress over small areas in different parts of the country. But a division can be made between Scotland and the rest of Britain: of the 29,160 jobs in the sample projects, 11,670 had been provided in Scotland and 17,490 in England and Wales.