§ 62. Mr. Randallasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what conclusions he has reached concerning the unemployment situation in the Gateshead district since the beginning of March; what information he has of new industries coming to the area; and what steps he is taking to reduce this high and persistent unemployment;
(2) whether, in view of the increase of unemployment in Gateshead since the middle of February, he will reconsider his decision not to include that town in the list of development areas.
§ Mr. J. RodgersIn the South Tyne West travel-to-work area, which includes Gateshead, the rate of unemployment fell from 4.1 per cent. in February to 3.6 per cent. in March. Separate percentages are not available for Gateshead itself, but the number unemployed there fell during the same period from 2,012 to 1,795. Developments in hand or projected for the wider South Tyne West area are expected to provide over 2,500 new jobs—most of them in Gateshead— during the next year or two. It is therefore not a place in which high and persistent unemployment exists or is to be expected and, while we should be prepared to see new industry set up in the district, priority must be given to places with more serious unemployment problems.