HC Deb 17 March 1993 vol 221 cc271-2
3. Mr. Madel

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to change the boundaries of travel-to-work areas as they relate to calculations for dividing areas of the country which might be granted assisted area status; and if he will make a statement.

The Minister for Industry (Mr. Tim Sainsbury)

Designating new travel-to-work areas based on 1991 census data is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment. As indicated in the consultation document for the review, travel-to-work areas will continue to be the main geographical unit used in making decisions on the new assisted areas map.

Mr. Madel

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the present boundaries of travel-to-work areas do not properly show up the acute unemployment problems in Dunstable, following the devastating loss of truck jobs in the town? May I urge upon him that the TTWA boundaries should be quickly redrawn and that Dunstable should be granted assisted area status so that we can be helped out of our acute unemployment problems?

Mr. Sainsbury

I understand my hon. Friend's concern because Dunstable and his constituency form the top left-hand corner of a rather large travel-to-work area which stretches from south of Watford to north of Luton. However, those TTWAs, based on 1981 census data, are the best approximation that we have on self-contained employment areas and we shall not have better information until the 1991 census data are available, which is not expected to be until late 1994 or possibly early 1995.

Mr. Eastham

For years, the travel-to-work area formula has distorted the true position and many major cities, especially inner city areas, are lumped together with suburbia miles away, which gives a distorted picture of unemployment. In many cities, including Manchester, unemployment is three times the figure given by the formula relating to the area.

Mr. Sainsbury

I can understand that sometimes an area that has, or appears to have, a local high level of unemployment resents being associated with another place in the same travel-to-work area which has lower unemployment, but there is a good deal of movement to work and that is the basis on which the TTWAs are assessed. They represent an area where approximately three quarters of the people who live there also work in the area. That is the best approximation that we have for a self-contained area, and help directed to that area will help the people who live and work there.