§ 54. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Minister of Labour how many people were registered as unemployed in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames at the latest date for which figures are available; and what were the figures on the same dates in 1966 and 1965.
The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. E. Ferny-hough)In the area covered by the Kingston-upon-Thames Employment Exchange, total numbers registered as unemployed at April, 1967, April, 1966, and April, 1965, were 797, 470 and 544, respectively.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterDoes the hon. Gentleman regard that trend in what used to be the prosperous South-East as satisfactory?
§ Mr. FernyhoughThe trend in the right hon. Gentleman's constituency is certainly better than that in the Greater London area—[Interruption.] It is better in the sense that the average is lower. Furthermore, in his area there are more than double the number of vacancies than there are unemployed.