§ 11. Mr. Simon Hughesasked the Paymaster General if he will list (a) the latest monthly figure for people registered as unemployed in the Greater London area, both as a total and as a percentage of the total number of people available for work and (b) comparable figures for the same month in 1981, 1976, 1971 and 1966.
§ Mr. LeeAs the reply contains a statistical table I shall, with permission, arrange for it to be printed in the Official Report. Figures will be given showing the numbers of unemployed claimants and the unemployment percentage rate in the Greater London Area for October of 1976, 1981 and 1986.
§ Mr. HughesI am grateful for the Minister's answer. Does he accept that the Greater London figures conceal a problem of a massive increase in unemployment in inner London, where the figures show that there are now over one quarter of a million out of work, which is the largest in any municipal area in the United Kingdom? Will the hon. Gentleman tell the House what initiatives will be developed other than the inner city action team and the docklands corporation to produce jobs in inner London for people resident in inner London in the foreseeable future? There is a crisis. What will the Minister do?
§ Mr. LeeWhile, sadly, unemployment has risen, I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that the Greater London rate is still below the national average. With regard to Government spending, about £210 million is going into Greater London in the current financial year from a mix of Government Departments. As the hon. Gentleman knows, Southwark is about to be upgraded to a programme authority area. In fact, there are 800 job vacancies in Southwark alone at present.
§ Mr. WilkinsonMay I tell my hon. Friend that in west London it is hard to get skilled workers? For example, it is a real problem to fill vacancies at London airport, which have to be filled by foreigners. Would not at least a partial solution to that problem be a greater willingness on the part of unemployed people in central London to commute out against the tide to secure the employment available for them in the outer boroughs?
§ Mr. LeeObviously, such commuting would make sense. Clearly, however, there are skill shortages, and it is a matter of matching those vacancies with the people available.
Following is the table.Estimates of the numbers of unemployed claimants at regional level are available only from April 1974. Figures for 1976 to 1981 are estimates. The comparison is affected by the provisions of the 1983 Budget provisions, which meant that certain older men no longer need to sign on at unemployment benefit offices to claim national insurance credits or the longterm rate of supplementary benefit.
| Unemployed Claimants in the Greater London Area | ||
| Number | Unemployment percentage of employees and unemployed | |
| October 1976 | 151,700 | 3.9 |
| October 1981 | 299,600 | 7.3 |
| October 1986 | 403,600 | 10.4 |