§ 55. Sir C. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity where are the worst pockets of unemployment in Wales; how many people are involved; how long the problem has lasted already; what steps she is taking to cure it; and when she expects to find a permanent cure.
Mr. WalkerThe Welsh Development Area where 26,062 people were registered as wholly unemployed on 10th June, 1968, covers most of Wales and includes 169W the South Wales valleys and remote rural areas where unemployment has been a persistent problem since the First World War. Incentives to industrial expansion are being reinforced in places where collieries are closing. I expect Government assistance to produce a marked reduction in the disparity between the level of unemployment in the Welsh Development Area and the national level in the next three years.