§ Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productitvity whether he will conduct an inquiry into average earnings in the Bridport area of Dorset, in view of the fact that they appear to be below the average for the South-West Region.
§ Mr. BryanNo. Resources are not available for surveys which would provide estimates of average earnings for each local area or for selected local areas such as Bridport. Average earnings within an area depend on many factors and in some areas are inevitably either below or above the regional average.
§ Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what were the latest average earnings in the South-West area; what large towns and cities were included; and whether he will publish a separate figure for rural areas and small towns.
§ Mr. BryanThe average earnings of full-time adult male manual workers in manufacturing and other industries covered by the October, 1969, inquiry were £22 17s. 2d. in the South-West standard region compared with the United 241W Kingdom average of £24 16s. 5d. Corresponding figures for areas within the region are not available.
The new earnings survey in September, 1968, covering all industries indicated that within this region average earnings in the Northern Sub-division which includes Gloucestershire and parts of Somerset and Wiltshire were higher than in the other three standard sub-divisions. Figures for the four standard sub-divisions of the region are being published shortly in the report of the survey. Separate figures for smaller areas are not available.