§ 43. Sir G. Nabarroasked the Minister of Labour how many and what percentage of those who are now unemployed were unemployed on 1st December, 1966; and to what extent re-deployment activities by his Department are succeeding.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. E. Fernyhough)Counts of the unemployed register are normally made on the second Monday of each month, and once a quarter they are analysed according to the number of complete weeks of the current spell of unemployment. Of the total number registered on 9th January, 1967, 51 per cent. (306,042 persons) had been unemployed continuously since Monday, 28th November, 1966.
Unemployment is at its highest in mid-winter, but on the whole satisfactory progress has been made with the redeployment of redundant workers.
§ Sir G. NabarroThe figure of 51 per cent. is a malignant hard-core of unemployed—four months on the dole—out of a total of 602,000, being the last published figures on unemployment. Does this not represent an unduly high percentage, and does it not connote that the policy of the Government is now to keep a large permanent pool of unemployed men to draw upon with a view to trying to improve the stability of prices?
§ Mr. FernyhoughIt denotes nothing of the kind—
§ Sir G. NabarroWhy not?
§ Mr. Fernyhough—and if it did, I would not want to be in this position.
§ Sir G. NabarroResign.