§ Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Labour if he has considered the letter from the hon. Member for West Ham, North, drawing his attention to the representations made by the National Union of Furniture Trade Operatives, regarding the increase in the short-time working and unemployment in the furniture industry; and whether he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Iain MacleodAs I undertook to do in the course of the debate on employment last week, I am having inquiries made into the reason for the differences between the figures of short-time working and redundancies in the furniture industry reported by my local offices and those collected by the National Union of Furniture Trade Operatives. When these inquiries are completed I will write to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Labour the number of workers in the furniture industry who were, on 16th March, 1956, unemployed and on short time; how these figures compare with a similar date for each of the last five years; and what are the reasons for the increases.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodThe March unemployment figures are not yet available, but according to reports received from my local offices some 6,600 furniture workers are at present on short time. Such comparable figures for the last five years as are available are given below. Much of the short time at present being worked is seasonal in character, but some of it is attributed to the restrictions on hire purchase.
The following are the figures:
Unemployment 12th February, 1951 1,717 11th February, 1952 4,910 16th February, 1953 4,312 15th February, 1954 4,717 14th February, 1955 3,372 13th February, 1956 4,703
Short-time Week ended— 31st March, 1951 255 29th March, 1952 2,712 28th February, 1953 4,973 27th February, 1954 4,451 26th February, 1955 3,846 Mid-March, 1956 6,600 (estimate)
§ Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Labour if he is aware of the growing number of workers in the furniture industry who are either unemployed or on short time working; that a number of factories are either closed or are contemplating closing; and what action he will take to find employment for the men in this industry.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodI am aware of these developments, which to a considerable extent are attributable to seasonal causes. As regards the last part of the Question,180W I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given this afternoon to the hon. Member for Shoreditch and Finsbury (Mr. Collins) by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade and to the debate on employment on 20th March.