HC Deb 13 February 1986 vol 91 c521W
Mr. Meadowcroft

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, in view of the recent availability of unemployment statistics broken down by ward, he will review the means used to determine the boundaries of assisted areas.

Mr. Peter Morrison

Travel-to-work areas are the closest available approximation to self-contained labour markets covering the whole country and are the smallest units for which nationally comparable unemployment rates are available. As such we will continue to use them as the basis for designating assisted areas.