HC Deb 28 February 1978 vol 945 cc214-6
1. Mr. Molloy

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest details of unemployment; and if he will make a statement.

2. Mr. Arnold

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures for unemployment; and if he will make a statement.

The Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. Albert Booth)

At 9th February, there were 1,445,863 people registered as unemployed in Great Britain.

Although the seasonally adjusted figures have fallen for the fifth successive month, the Government are taking positive steps to secure a more rapid fall in unemployment. Details of the new youth opportunities programme and special temporary employment programme are being announced today.

I and my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Education and Science hope that all concerned—employers, unions, local authorities, the education service and voluntary bodies alike—will give this important initiative their maximum support.

Mr. Molloy

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the youth employment programme is of great importance to all people? Will he give the House an assurance that there are enough funds available to make the programme a reality, particularly for Greater London?

Mr. Booth

I am very much aware of my hon. Friend's concern, particularly for the success of this programme in the London area. I can assure him that on the budget allocation for 1978–79 Greater London will receive £8.1 million to fund the youth opportunities programme in that area.

Mr. Arnold

What estimate has the Secretary of State made of the number of sectors in the economy in which employment is still rising? Is it his view that the underlying trend is still upwards?

Mr. Booth

It is the case that as of now there is still a strong possibility that the increase in the number of people in employment may not be sufficient to offset the additional number of people who seek jobs, particularly during the period of the summer school leaving. Therefore, the trend is very difficult to predict at present and may well depend upon the success of the youth opportunities programme.

Mr. Arthur Lewis

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, in Newham, we have a stress area with a number of problems, too many to enumerate but including unemployment? We have a scheme for a new court to be established, in which all the money and everything could be agreed upon, and someone, somewhere has stopped it.

In view of last night's debate and in view of the Government's always claiming that they are going to do something to help deal with unemployment, why instead of stopping work where there could be employment, do not the Government introduce new schemes? Here is something that should help to solve the unemployment problem. Will my right hon. Friend discuss it with the Ministers concerned and tell them to get their fingers out?

Mr. Booth

I assure my hon. Friend that I discuss with all my Cabinet colleagues the job implications of their own Departments' programmes. But the programme that I am announcing is of particular relevance in my hon. Friend's area in obtaining jobs for young people, and a general increase in the building programme would not automatically bring about the solution of the problem of young people's employment.

Mr. Hayhoe

Is the Secretary of State aware that the Opposition give a general welcome to the youth opportunities programme announced today and to the special temporary employment programme? We shall be studying the details with close attention.

Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to correct the inaccurate information that he gave more than a month ago about comparative unemployment figures? He failed to correct them when I asked him to do so last time during employment Questions. I hope that he will correct them today.

Mr. Booth

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the welcome that he has given to the youth opportunities programme and shall be only too willing to furnish him and his hon. Friends with all the details of the programme that they might require. I hope that that will ensure continuing support for the programme.

I very much regret that the figures that I quoted previously as being comparable were not. They were not adjusted to take account of national definitions of unemployment. Those were figures from an OECD table that I quoted to the House. I should have checked them to test their basis. I have written to the right hon. Member for Lowestoft (Mr. Prior) apologising to him for this error, and I should like to take this opportunity of apologising to the House for having inadvertently misled hon. Members.