§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what research is being conducted by the Department or elsewhere into the long-term implications of the decline of the population of working age compared with that of retirement age and the extent to which there will be an additional need for immigrant labour to overcome labour shortages.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe Department does not project the demand for labour. It publishes projections of the labour force, as well as expected demographic changes and the trends in economic activity. The most recent projections go up to the year 2006. "Labour force projections: 1993–2006" is published in theEmployment Gazette, April 1993 pp139–147. The Employment Gazette is available from the Library.
In addition, reports of Carnegie inquiry into the third age, which was co-funded by the Employment Department, are now published. The inquiry explored aspects of the aging of the work force and population. The reports are available from the Library.