§ Mr. Viggersasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate, to the nearest convenient date, of (a) the number of jobs which have been created as a result of the Government's job creation schemes and (b) the number of persons in employment who would have lost their jobs had it not been for Government intervention.
§ Mr. GoldingUp to the end of March 1978, the total number of jobs which have been created or subsidised under the job creation programme, community 43W industry and the small firms employment subsidy schemes is estimated to be about 150,000.
As at 17th March 1978, the number of persons whose jobs have been saved by my Department through the temporary employment subsidy since its inception in August 1975 was over 404,000.
Up to the end of 1977, offers of regional selective assistance totalling £360 million had been made under Section 7 of the 1972 Industry Act, which is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Industry. Nearly 275,000 jobs are expected to be created as a result of these offers and a further 115,000 are expected to be safeguarded.