§ 4. Mr. Willeyasked the Minister of Labour what is the number of persons unemployed in Sunderland and the number of unfilled vacancies at the latest available date.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. E. Fernyhough)Provisional figures show that on 12th February, 1968, 3,205 persons were registered as unemployed in the area covered by Sunderland Employment Exchange, and on 7th February, 1968, 272 notified vacancies remained unfilled
Mr. WileyIn view of the persistently high level of unemployment in Sunderland, and our particular difficulties there, will my hon. Friend ensure that we are row considered as eligible for designation as a special area?
§ Mr. FernyhoughMy right hon. Friend knows that all the benefits of the Local Employment Acts and the additional benefits for the development areas are available to Sunderland, and I am hoping that what has happened in the North-East generally this last month in the Nay of new industry determining to go there will apply to Sunderland very shortly.
§ Mr. R. W. ElliottWill not the Parliamentary Secretary agree that a Northern Region unemployment figure of 62,000 means that unemployment there is at a frightening level? Does he, as a north country man and Member of Parliament, recall that some of his Labour Party colleagues in 1966 claimed that Labour had cured unemployment in the region in 17 months?
§ Mr. FernyhoughOf course, I am aware of the acute problem in the NorthEast—it faces me every time I go to my constituency—but I hope that the hon. Gentleman, likewise, will agree that the announcements made since Christmas 6 about new industry going there augurs well for the future.