§ Mr. Cleggasked the Minister of Labour if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list of those employment exchange areas in the North-West which have a percentage of unemployment 376W above the national average and above the average for the North-West, respectively, specifying the actual percentage in each employment exchange area.
§ Mr. FernyhoughThere are, in the North-Western region, 86 Employment Exchange or "travel-to-work" areas (comprising two or more Employment Exchange areas) for which percentage rates of unemployment can be calculated.
Following is the information, for 9th October, 1967, relating to the 30 areas in North-Western region in respect of which the unemployment percentage rate exceeded that for Great Britain:
Employment Exchange or travel-to-work area Percentage rate of unemployment Nelson 6.6 Colne 6.2 Fleetwood* 6.0 Bacup 4.9 Morecambe 4.9 Prestwich 4.6 Grange-over-sands 4.5 Upholland 4.1 Merseyside North (including Prescot)* 3.9 Winsford 3.8 Hoylake 3.7 Neston 3.7 Middleton 3.6 Heywood 3.5 Southport 3.5 Widnes 3.5 Blackpool 3.3 Merseyside South* 3.3 Skelmersdale 3.3 Littleborough 3.1 Ramsbottom 3.0 Barrow-in-Furness* 2.9 Crewe 2.8 Padiham 2.8 Wigan 2.8 Burnley 2.7 St. Helens 2.6 North Western region 2.5 Marple 2.5 Rawtenstall 2.5 Rochdale 2.5 Great Britain 2.4 *Travel-to-work area.
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Minister of Labour how many textile workers are now unemployed in the North-West.
§ Mr. FernyhoughAt 9th October, 1967, there were in the North-Western region 4,401 persons registered as wholly unemployed, and 1,779 as temporarily stopped, who last worked in the Textile 377W industries (Order X of the Standard Industrial Classification).
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Minister of Labour what estimate he has made of the number of workers who have left the North-West since 1960.
§ Mr. FernyhoughAnnual estimates, based on counts of National Insurance cards exchanged in different regions in successive years, show that between 1960 and 1966 some 490,000 workers left the North-Western region and some 470,000 moved into the region.
These estimates are subject to considerable margins of error and to other qualifications which are set out on page 552 of the July, 1967, issue of the Ministry of Labour Gazette.
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Minister of Labour what is the latest figure showing the number of unfilled vacancies in the North-West; and how this compares with the situation at the same time in 1967.
§ Mr. FernyhoughThe numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled in the North Western region at 4th October, 1967 and 5th October, 1966 were 27,083 and 35,991, respectively.