HC Deb 21 October 1968 vol 770 cc198-9W
54. Mr. George Jeger

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity whether unemployment in Thorne has yet reached the level she regards as intolerable and unacceptable; and what action is planned to alleviate the situation.

Mr. Fernyhough

Travel to work between the Doncaster, Thorne and Askern areas is now so extensive, that calculation of a separate unemployment rate for Thorne is no longer realistic. The October rate for the combined area is provisionally 4.3 per cent. I am, however, concerned at the numbers of Thorne residents registered as unemployed. Pending the Hunt Committee's report on their studies of the economic problems of such places, the Board of Trade will consider very sympathetically any proposals for industrial development which will help Thorne.