§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of firms and the number of employees involved in firms which have closed since May 1979 in (a) the Birkenhead travel-to-work area, (b) Merseyside and (c) the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThere are no comprehensive statistics of closures. The available information on closures, involving redundancies of ten or more employees, reported to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur is given in the following table.
Since the information is often provided in confidence, the identity of the firms may not be disclosed.
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Closures reported as due to occur: May 1979 to October 1981* Number of establishments Number of employees involved Birkenhead travel-to-work area 34 1,284 Merseyside Special Development Area‡ 223 15,434 * Including provisional figures for September and October 1981. ‡ Includes St. Helens up to July 1980. Corresponding information for the United Kingdom is not available.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the unemployment figures by age group in May-June 1979 and at the latest available date in the Birkenhead travel-to-work area.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe numbers unemployed are analysed by age in January, April, July and October. The following is the information at April 1979 and October 1981.
Age April 1979 October 1981 Under 18 years 1,173 2,588 18 years 749 1,915 19 years 844 1,718 20 to24 years 3,108 6,123 25 to 29 years 2,167 3,801 30 to 34 years 1,513 2,841 35 to 44 years 2,023 3,771 45 to 49 years 918 1,635 50 to 54 years 906 1,672 55 to 59 years 994 2,151 60 years and over 1,295 2,387 The October figures for the younger age groups include some of this year's summer school leavers, whereas the April 1979 figures do not even include the Easter school leavers in that year.
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the total number of registered vacancies in (a) the Birkenhead travel-to-work area, (b) Merseyside and (c) the United Kingdom in May-June 1979 and at the latest available date.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe following table gives the number of notified vacancies remaining unfilled at employment offices and at careers offices in the areas specified at May 1979 and November 1981. The figures are not seasonally adjusted. Vacancies notified to employment offices are estimated to be about one-third of all vacancies in the country as a whole. Because of possible duplication the figures for employment offices and careers offices should not be added together. The number of vacancies unfilled at a particular date takes no account of the flow of vacancies being notified, filled or withdrawn during the preceding month, which would reflect activity more closely. For example, during the 12-month period to September 1,337,622 people were placed in jobs by employment offices and 121,344 by careers offices in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that the public employment service accounts for about one in four of all placings.
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Notified vacancies remaining unfilled May 1979 November 1981 (provisional) At employment offices At careers offices At employment offices At careers offices Birkenhead travel-to-work area 1,048 22 558 7 Merseyside Special Development Area 3,847 127 2,328 17 United Kingdom 267,916 41,265 100,929 4,472
§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list by trade and occupation the registered vacancies in (a) the Birkenhead travel-to-work area, (b) Merseyside and (c) the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe following table gives an analysis by broad occupational groups of the numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled at employment offices in the areas specified at 4 September, the latest date for which the information is available.
Vacancies notified to employment offices are estimated to be about one-third of all vacancies in the economy as a whole. The number of vacancies unfilled at a particular date takes no account of the flow of vacancies being notified, filled or withdrawn during the preceding month, which would reflect activity more closely. For example, during the 12-month period to September 1,337,622 people were placed in jobs by employment offices in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that the public employment services accounts for about one in four of all placings.
Birken-head travel-to-work area Mersey-side Special Development Area United Kingdom Managerial (general management) — 2 74 Professional and related supporting management and administration — 34 1,693 Professional and related in education, welfare and health 19 132 5,950 Literary, artistic and sports 2 11 703 Professional and related in science, engineering, technology and similar fields 4 33 2,928 Managerial (excluding general management) 12 72 3,539 Clerical and related 94 547 17,480 Selling 65 315 16,495 Security and protective service 2 67 1,410 Catering, cleaning, hairdressing and other personal service 133 345 24,031 Farming, fishing and related 4 23 1,223 Materials processing (excluding metal) 3 15 1,367 Making and repairing (excluding metal and electrical) 21 81 6,711 Processing, making, repairing and related (metal and electrical) 28 111 7,491 Painting, repetitive assembling, product inspecting, packaging and related 8 30 3,008 Construction, mining and related not elsewhere classified 9 95 2,738 Transport operating, materials moving and storing related 9 48 4,117 Miscellaneous (including general labourers) 13 50 3,986 TOTAL 426 2,011 104,944