§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity how many men wholly unemployed in the Northern Region are over 40 years of age; how many of these have been out of work for more than six months; and what steps her Department is taking to make available to them equal job opportunities.
§ Mr. FernyhoughOn 13th January, 1969, the latest date for which a detailed age analysis is available, there were in the Northern Region 31,762 wholly unemployed men aged 40 years and over, of whom 15,937 had been registered as unemployed for more than 26 weeks.
My Department continues to encourage employers to make capacity, not age, the test of suitability for employment. The pressing need to help the older unemployed worker has been one of the reasons for the expansion of Government assistance in industrial training, retraining and rehabilitation in the Northern Region. My Department will continue its efforts to encourage older workers and employers to take more advantage of these facilities. Older workers who are unemployed will benefit from the Government's policies designed to raise the level of employment in the Northern Region and in the development areas generally.