§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General (1) what is the current level of unemployment in the Liverpool, Riverside constituency at the latest date; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will list the level of unemployment in the Liverpool constituencies at the latest date.
(3) if he will list the level of unemployment on Merseyside on a constituency basis.
§ Mr. John LeeThe following information is in the Library. The table shows the numbers of unemployed claimants in the parliamentary constituencies of the Merseyside area at 9 October 1986.
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Constituency Number of unemployed claimants Birkenhead 9,614 Bootle 10,675 Crosby 5,562 Knowsley North 9,527 Knowsley South 9,593 Liverpool Broadgreen 8,587 Liverpool Garston 7,838 Liverpool Mossley Hill 7,586 Liverpool Riverside 11,404 Liverpool Walton 10,791 Liverpool West Derby 9,380 Southport 4,908
Constituency Number of unemployed claimants St. Helens North 6,904 St. Helens South 7,775 Wallasey 7,367 Wirral South 4,038 Wirral West 4,469
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General what are the figures of youth unemployment in the Liverpool, Riverside constituency at the latest available date.
§ Mr. John LeeThe following information is in the Library. On 9 October 1986, the number of unemployed claimants aged under 25 in the Liverpool Riverside constituency was 4,199.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General what is the level of long-term unemployment in the Liverpool, Riverside constituency at the latest available date.
§ Mr. John LeeThe following information is in the Library. On 9 October 1986 the number of claimants who had been unemployed for over one year in the Liverpool, Riverside parliamentary constituency was 6,893.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General if he will give a breakdown of unemployment on a ward basis in the Liverpool, Riverside constituency at the latest available date on a percentage basis.
§ Mr. John LeeThe information requested is not available. Unemployment rates are not calculated for areas smaller than travel-to-work areas. The numbers of unemployed claimants in the electoral wards of the Liverpool, Riverside constituency are available in the Library, and are also given in a separate reply to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General (1) what was the level of unemployment in the Liverpool travel-to-work area at the lastest available date; and what were the figures for June 1979;
(2) what was the level of unemployment on Merseyside at the latest available date; and what were the figures for June 1979.
§ Mr. John LeeThe following information is in the Library. On 9 October 1986 the numbers of unemployed claimants in the Liverpool travel-to-work areas and the Merseyside Metropolitan areas were 102,951 and 136,018 respectively. Comparisons with June 1979 are difficult to make because of changes in the method of collection and compilation of the data. However, in June 1979 the numbers of unemployed registrants in jobcentre areas closely corresponding to the Liverpool travel-to-work area, as defined in 1978, and the Merseyside Metropolitan area were 59,399 and 82,729 respectively.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to reduce long-term youth unemployment in Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John LeeOur economic policies are designed to provide the conditions in which industry and commerce can create new jobs for long-term unemployed young people and others.
13WTwo year YTS training means that no school leaver under 18 need be unemployed and job prospects for those completing training are further enhanced by the New Workers Scheme.
Our Action for Jobs campaign is ensuring that unemployed people are aware of the full range of help available.
Special help for the long-term unemployed is provided by the restart programme and by the community programme.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General (1) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the measures to reduce long-term unemployment on Merseyside; and if he will make a statement.
(2) what steps are being taken to reduce long-term unemployment in Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeMy Department and the Manpower Services Commission operate a wide range of employment, training and enterprise measures nationally. The effectiveness of each of these measures is regularly reviewed. The full range is described in the "Action for Jobs" booklet. By March 1987 every long-term unemployed person in Merseyside will have been invited for an interview under the restart programme and offered one of a number of positive opportunities to help them back towards employment. This may include, for example, the community programme, a jobclub or a restart course.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General if he will give a breakdown of unemployment in Liverpool on a ward basis at the latest date.
§ Mr. John LeeThe following information is in the Library. The table shows the number of unemployed claimants on 9 October 1986 for each of the electoral wards in the Liverpool local authority district.
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Electoral Ward Number of Unemployed Claimants Abercromby 1,923 Aigburth 1,525 Allerton 939 Anfield 1,764 Arundel 2,088 Breckfield 2,150 Broadgreen 1,458 Childwall 1,072 Church 1,228 Clubmoor 2,008 County 1,681 Croxteth 1,239 Dingle 1,667 Dovecot 2,217 Everton 1,538 Fazakerley 1,365 Gillmoss 2,011 Granby 2,858 Grassendale 828 Kensington 2,380 Melrose 1,921 Netherley 1,360 Old Swan 1,549 Picton 1,876 Pirrie 1,905 St. Mary's 1,612 Smithdown 2,129 Speke 1,731 Tuebrook 2,128 Valley 1,367
Electoral Ward Number of Unemployed Claimants Vauxhall 1,330 Warbreck 1,910 Woolton 829
§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General if Her Majesty's Government intend to introduce future measures to reduce youth unemployment in Liverpool.
§ Mr. John LeeOur present programme of measures to improve the employment prospects of young people is kept under constant review. We have no present plans to introduce new measures.
§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Paymaster General if he will list the numbers of unemployed for each postal code area in the Dunfermline, East constituency for November 1986, November 1983 and November 1985, respectively.
§ Mr. Lee[pursuant to his reply, 5 December 1986]: The information requested is not available. Postal code areas cannot readily be linked to constituencies which are defined in terms of wards. However, figures for local authority wards from June 1983 are available in the Library.