§ Mr. Cleggasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity whether the new presentation of employment statistics for Fleetwood and Thornton Cleveleys will be reported to the Hunt Committee.
§ Mr. FernyhoughDetails of the revised travel to work areas have been given to the Hunt Committee. I am sure that the Committee fully appreciate the unemployment situation in Fleetwood as well as the position in the wider travel to work area of which it now forms a part.
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what consultations she had with the local authorities concerned before the presentatation of unemployment figures for Fleetwood and Thornton Cleveleys was announced.
§ Mr. FernyhoughNone.
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if she will publish a table showing the present numbers of people unemployed in Fleetwood specifying them by sex and age.
§ Mr. FernyhoughAt 9th September, 1968, 554 persons (470 men, 18 boys, 55 women and 11 girls) were registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Fleetwood Employment Exchange.
180Wwhole from the results of the Department's earnings by occupation enquiry.
Following is the information:
Detailed age analyses of those registered as wholly unemployed are made in January and July each year. Following is the information for 8th July, 1968:
AGE ANALYSIS OF THE NUMBERS REGISTERED AS WHOLLY UNEMPLOYED AT 8TH JULY 1968 IN THE AREA COVERED BY THE FLEETWOOD EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE Males Females Under 18 7 1 18 and under 20 17 5 20 and under 25 51 6 25 and under 30 30 3 30 and under 35 28 4 35 and under 40 34 3 40 and under 45 41 12 45 and under 50 37 13 50 and under 55 27 8 55 and under 60 61 3 60 and over 90 1 Temporarily stopped 23 — Total, all ages 446 59
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if she will make a statement on the change in the presentation of unemployment statistics for Fleetwood and Thornton Cleveleys.
§ Mr. FernyhoughI would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, West (Mr. Judd) on 3rd July, in which details were given of my Department's review of travel to work areas and its general effect on the presentation of unemployment statistics.
181WThe review showed that the former Fleetwood and Thornton Cleveleys travel to work area was not a "self-contained" labour market on the basis of the systematic criteria applied to the whole of Great Britain and it was therefore necessary to amalgamate it with other employment exchange areas in the Fylde. Thus with effect from 8th July this year a percentage rate of unemployment will be available only for the revised Blackpool travel to work area which consists of the following employment exchanges: Blackpool, Fleetwood, Kirkham, Lytham St. Annes and Thornton Cleveleys.
The absence of a separate percentage rate of unemployment for Fleetwood and Thornton Cleveleys will not however affect the availability of the local monthly unemployment figures.—[Vol. 767, c. 243–4.]
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what is her estimate of the number of workers who live in Fleetwood and work outside the town.
§ Mr. FernyhoughMy Department does not make estimates of the numbers of persons who travel to work outside their place of residence. According to the 1966 Census of Population, however, 2,690 of the 7,900 male residents and 720 of the 4,070 female residents of the municipal borough of Fleetwood who were in employment worked outside the town.
§ Mr. Cleggasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what is the number of the employable population in Fleetwood, specifying them by age and sex.
§ Mr. FernyhoughOn the basis of samples of National Insurance Cards exchanged, the estimated number of employees (employed and unemployed) at June, 1967, was about 13,000 (approximately 9,000 males and 4,000 females). These estimates comprise the numbers employed in the Fleetwood Employment Exchange area, regardless of where they live, together with the numbers registered as unemployed at Fleetwood Employment Exchange, regardless of where they last worked. Estimates of the numbers employed by area of residence are not avail-182W able in this Department. Employee estimates analysed by age are not made for local areas.