§ Mr. Cryerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the total costs of redundancy payments and unemployment pay for textile workers in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
§ Mr. John FraserI regret that the information requested is not available.
§ Mr. David Youngasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is the 295W total number of employees, and how many are estimated to be on short time, in the non-knitted sector of the textile industry;
(2) how many employees have suffered short-time working during 1975 in the non-knitted sector of the textile industry.
§ Mr. John FraserDetailed statistics of the numbers on short-time are compiled for a selected week in each month. The following table shows the figures for textiles except hosiery and other knitted goods—i.e., Order XIII except minimum list heading 417 of the Standard Industrial Classification. The figures are for the first three months in 1975.
Great Britain Week ended and Number of operatives working short-time 18th January 1975 13,100 15th February 1975 19,800 15th March 1975 19,600 The short time figures for March 1975 are the most recent in the normal monthly statistical series. A special inquiry relating to this industry indicated that for the week commencing 5th May 1975 21,300 workers in the industries were on short time. This estimate, obtained to supplement the regular monthly statistics, is necessarily approximate. The estimated number of employees in employment at March 1975 was 384,900.
§ Mr. David Youngasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many employees have been made redundant in the non-knitted sector of the textile industry;
(2) how many mills have closed down in the non-knitted sector of the textile industry.
§ Mr. John FraserI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that during the period 1st January to 12th May 1975 redundancies involving some 5,300 people were recorded in the non-knitted sector of the textile industry and 47 establishments were recorded as having closed down.