§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Employment why Merseyside, having one of the highest levels of unemployment in the United Kingdom, has had fewer projects approved and jobs created under the Job Creation Pro- 580W gramme than other areas of the country; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, up to 6th February, 63 projects had been approved in Merseyside, compared with an average of 72 for each of the 10 job creation programme areas. However, the average number of jobs per project in Merseyside is 17.5, compared with a national average of 12.75. Projects approved in Merseyside have been on average larger and longer than in the rest of the country, with the result that the 8.7 per cent. of projects which are in Merseyside provide 12 per cent. of the jobs and 14.1 per cent. of the man-weeks of employment created by the programme in Great Britain as a whole.
The Action Committee for Merseyside is meeting this week to consider 12 further applications involving 239 jobs.