HC Deb 30 November 1967 vol 755 c174W
Mr. Hannan

asked the Minister of Labour if he will provide a table showing, for each of the past five years, the gross total of employees emigrating from and immigrating to Scotland, Wales, and the regional areas of England; and in each case what percentage the emigrants constituted of the total of insured workers.

Mr. Fernyhough

Estimates have been published annually in the Ministry of Labour Gazette of movements of employees between regions. These estimates were derived from the annual exchange of insurance cards. Where known, adjustments were made to take account of the movement of cards which did not correspond to the movement of employees. In recent years there has been a marked growth of arrangements whereby all cards held by firms are exchanged centrally irrespective of the inter-regional dispersion of their employees. Because of this it is now clear that reliable estimates cannot be compiled on this basis. This view is confirmed by a comparison with the results of the 1961 Census of Population. Some estimates of inter-regional migration will however be available from the 1966 Census of Population.