§ Q1. Mr. Evelyn Kingasked the Prime Minister if he will make a further statement regarding the information given in a letter from his office to the Secretary of the Weymouth and District Trade Council on 12th November last relating to the employment situation in Weymouth and district.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)I assume that the hon. Gentleman is referring to a letter sent from my office on 14th November in which two conflicting figures were given for " jobs in prospect ". The correct figure as at mid-November, 1969, was that given on page 4 of the letter, i.e. 630. As the hon. Gentleman may know, this figure has since been revised.
§ Mr. KingDoes not the Prime Minister also in that letter hold out high hopes for the future? Since he wrote it, has not the unemployment rate gone up by over 5 per cent. and are not the figures 1045 for this month worse than the figures for last month? The Prime Minister also pointed out that Weymouth depends on the holiday trade. Will he, by way of recompense, take the only action possible to help us and remove selective employment tax from those who engage in the holiday trade?
§ The Prime MinisterMy original answer referred to part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question. I quoted the figure of jobs in prospect. I share the hon. Gentleman's anxieties about the employment situation in Weymouth, but I agree with him that it cannot just be dealt with, as some seaside town unemployment figures can, in terms of seasonal factors. That is why we are following our present policy in relation to I.D.C.'s there. S.E.T. was debated fully during the Budget debate.