§ 1. Mr. Dykesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the registered unemployed in the most recent figures available to his Department for the London Borough of Harrow were in the age groups under 25 years of age and over 55 years of age, respectively.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. Dudley Smith)At 10th January, the latest date for which information is available, 22.5 per cent. of those registered as wholly unemployed in the area covered by the Harrow Employment Exchange were under 25 years of age and 36 per cent. were aged 55 years and over.
§ Mr. DykesWhile thanking my hon. Friend for those figures, may I ask, in view of the welcome trend of falling unemployment throughout the country, including the South-East, whether there will be additional measures by the Department's local offices to find employment for people in these two categories in view of the relative difficulties which they experience?
§ Mr. SmithThose under 25 or wholly unemployed were appreciably smaller in number in Harrow in January than in the South-East region and the country as a whole. On the other hand, Harrow's share of unemployment among those aged 55 and over was substantially greater than the regional and national share, largely because of premature retirements in two companies in the area early in 1971. I 211 do not think the situation is too serious in Harrow, but of course our local offices give special attention to these two categories.