§ Mr. Patrick Thompsonasked the Paymaster General if he will publish in the Official Report a table giving for the Norwich, North constituency (a) the population and (b) the number of unemployed as at (i) 1 January and (ii) 1 July for each year from 1974 to date.
§ Mr. LeeFollowing is the available information, which is also in the library. The only source of information on the population in parliamentary constituencies is the decennial census of population. The 1981 census of population identified a population of 82,144 present on census night in Norwich, North.
The following table shows the numbers of unemployed claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Norwich, North on count dates closest to 1 January and 1 July. The 30W comparison is affected by the change in the compilation of the unemployment statistics in March 1986. Statistics of unemployment for parliamentary constituencies are derived from the ward-based system and are available only from June 1983.
Number 14 July 1983 3,412 12 January 1984 3,565 12 July 1984 3,483 10 January 1985 3,833 11 July 1985 3,810 9 January 1986 4,210 10 July 1986 3,964
§ Mr. Winnickasked the Paymaster General which region in the United Kingdom has lost the highest number of jobs since May 1979; and if he will give the percentage unemployed in that region in 1979 and now.
§ Mr. LeeInformation about job gains and job losses is not available from the Department's statistics but an indication of the net changes can be seen by comparing levels of employment at different dates. Figures are not available for May 1979. Between June 1979 and June 1986. the largest net decrease in the size of the civilian employed labour force (employees in employment plus the self-employed) occurred in the north-west region.
In June 1979, seasonally adjusted unemployment in the north-west region represented 5.3 per cent. of the working population. The corresponding figure for December 1986 was 13.6 per cent.