§ Mr. Howeasked the Minister of Labour whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table setting out, either by reference to region or to employment 304W exchanges at which the register is kept, the geographical distribution on 1st December 1965 of the vacancies and persons registered on his professional and executive register.
§ Mr. ThorntonThe following table gives the required information:
MEN AND WOMEN REGISTERED FOR EMPLOYMENT AND NOTIFIED VACANCIES OUTSTANDING AT OFFICES OF THE PROFESSIONAL & EXECUTIVE REGISTER ON 1ST DECEMBER 1965 Region Numbers registered Outstanding vacancies Northern 1,132 588 Yorkshire & Humberside 1,341 701 Eastern & Southern 2,981 1,844 London & South Eastern 5,804 3,338 South Western 2,117 413 Wales 846 283 Midlands 2,492 2,015 North Western 2,963 921 Scotland 1,561 636 National Total 21,237 10,739
§ Mr. Howeasked the Minister of Labour what percentage of the people placing their name on his professional and executive register finds posts within four, eight, 13 and 26 weeks, respectively; and what proportion of such cases finds such posts as a result of the operation of his Department's specialised placing and information service.
§ Mr. ThorntonI regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question is not available.
In the year ending 1st December, 1965, 44,114 people ended their registrations with the Professional and Executive Register. Of these 7,860 had been placed in employment by the service. It is not known how many of the remainder found their own employment as a result of information and advice from the service or how many people ceased to register for other reasons than having found employment.
§ Mr. Howeasked the Minister of Labour what was the total cost, in the last year for which figures are available, of maintaining his professional and executive register and of operating the specialised placing and information service in conjunction therewith; what was the average cost of these services per vacancy filled during the same period; and how this average cost compares with the com- 305W parable figure for each vacancy filled on the ordinary register of unemployed.
§ Mr. ThorntonIn 1965 the total cost including all overhead expenses of providing all the services of the professional and executive register at local offices was about £475,000. A simple division of this sum by the recorded number of placings effected produces a figure of some £60 but this would be an overestimate of the cost per placing as much of the work done by these offices consists of advising applicants about further training or about seeking opportunities not notified to the register.
For similar reasons it is difficult to provide an accurate average cost of each placing made from the ordinary register of unemployed, but this is estimated to be just under £4.
Number of stoppages beginning in month Number of working days lost at establishments where the disputes occurred in all stoppages in progress in month 1963 1964 1965* 1963 1964 (thousands) 1965* January … … 150 192 201 54 381 123 February … … 143 213 246 56 178 372 March … … 173 191 264 101 179 420 April … … 174 283 208 92 268 263 May … … 192 219 265 187 204 503 June … … 173 238 187 144 172 328 July … … 151 167 138 125 249 183 August … … 147 180 164 400 100 169 September … … 217 227 201 107 159 149 October … … 238 239 184 189 161 197 November … … 211 235 197 131 159 146 December … … 99 140 87 170 68 78 * The figures for 1965 are provisional.
§ Mr. Howeasked the Minister of Labour why the regularly published statistics about the number of working days lost by reason of stoppages of work due to industrial disputes do not include loss of time, for example through shortage of materials, which may be caused at establishments other than those at which occurred the stoppages which are included in the statistics; why such additional loss of time should not be included in the statistics; and to what extent the published statistics for the last 12 months would be affected if such additional loss of time was included therein.
§ Mr. GunterI cannot make a comprehensive estimate of the time lost at establishments other than those at which stoppages occur. I cannot therefore say to what extent the published statistics for the last 12 months would be affected if such additional loss of time was included.