§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Paymaster General what action has been taken to ensure that the Central regional council submits accurate returns for the census of employment in future; if he will estimate the effect of previous inaccurate returns on the published unemployment figures for the Stirling constituency; and if he will indicate the extent to which this affected the Stirling constituency's eligibility for regional assistance.
§ Mr. LangArrangements have been made to allocate the employees of Central regional council to their correct districts for the 1984 census of employment. My officials have also arranged for the council to be given advance warning of the need to provide sufficiently detailed information to allow employees to be correctly classified in the forthcoming 1986 census.
If allowances are made for the inaccuracies in the 1981 census, resulting from the Central regional council's return, the unemployment rate for Stirling travel-to-work area is estimated at 14.4 per cent. for March 1986. The current published figure is 11.9 per cent. Unemployment rates were only one of several factors taken into consideration in deciding assisted area status. I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade 35W and Industry that the errors made were insufficient to have altered the decision that Stirling travel-to-work area should not be included in the assisted area map.