§ 53. Mr. Leadbitterasked the Minister of Labour how many new jobs have been provided in the Northern Region since 1965; how many jobs have been lost in the basic traditional industries in the region; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FernyhoughI regret that this information is not available in the form requested. The only comprehensive figures showing changes in the number of jobs are obtained by comparing for different years the mid-year estimate of employees in employment. The figures show net changes only, and there is no way of identifying "jobs provided" and "jobs lost". The mid-year estimates for the Northern Region for 1967 show that there were 1,279,000 employees in employment compared with 1,301,000 for 1965.
These estimates indicate little change in employment for shipbuilding and net 139W reductions of about 20,000 and 6,000 for coalmining and iron and steel respectively.