§ 3. Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people residing in the employment areas of South Yorkshire are in full-time employment; what proportion of the population this figure represents; and what is the national average.
Mr. JacksonInformation on employment according to the place of residence of the employees can only be obtained, for local areas, from the 1981 census of population. Data according to the place of work are available from the census of employment. In September 1987 there were 325,000 employees in full-time employment in the county of South Yorkshire, who represented 54.4 per cent. of the estimated work force and compared with a figure of 59.7 per cent. for Great Britain as a whole.
§ Mr. HardyDo not those statistics reveal the farce of the Government's calculations that show that South Yorkshire is more well-to-do than even the richest areas of south-east England? Does the Minister accept that our position has gravely deteriorated since the 1981 census? Will he therefore ensure that, for areas such as South Yorkshire, information obtained from the 1991 census will be fed into the Government's calculations with great urgency?
Mr. JacksonI think that I can offer the hon. Gentleman some reassurance. I regret that the level of full-time employment in his constituency is below the national average. However, there has been not a deterioration but a sharp improvement in employment levels in South Yorkshire and Wentworth in the late 1980s. I ask the hon. Gentleman to study carefully the figures in the 1989 census of employment, which will be published early next month and will show an appreciable improvement in full-time employment over that period.