§ 29. Mr. Mayhewasked the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the future employment prospects in the Woolwich employment exchange area, including Thames-mead; and what action he is taking to ensure a return to full employment in the area.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithWhile it is not my Department's practice to give detailed assessments of the future employment situation in particular areas, I would expect Woolwich to benefit from the many measures we have taken to expand the economy.
§ Mr. Mayhewasked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the numbers of unemployed, men and women, respectively, in the Woolwich Employment Exchange area at the latest available date, and the corresponding figures for 1965; what proportion of these had been out of work for six weeks or more; and how these figures compare with the national average.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithAt November, 1971, the numbers registered as unemployed in the Woolwich Employment Exchange area were 1,743 males and 277 females, a total of 2,020. The corresponding figures for November, 1965, were 418, 142 and 560. For the numbers registered as wholly unemployed, a detailed analysis based on the length of their current spell on the register was last made for October, 1971, and at that date the percentages registered for more than six weeks were 47.6 for Woolwich342W and 63.9 for Great Britain. The earliest October for which comparable information is available for Woolwich is October, 1966, when the percentages unemployed for more than six weeks were 32.9 for Wolwich and 47.5 for Great Britain.