§ 34. Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of persons registered as unemployed, and those estimated to be unemployed but not registered, in Newcastle-under-Lyme and England and Wales, respectively.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithOn 13th November 1972 the provisional counts of the unemployed in the area covered by the Newcastle-under-Lyme employment exchange and in the whole of England and Wales were 1,179 and 643,633 respectively. I have no comparable figure for numbers seeking work but not registered. Information from the Census of Population about people out of employment relates to local authority areas, not to employment exchange areas, and it includes those who were sick.
§ 35. Mr. Spenceasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing the male unemployment rate in each region as a percentage of the national rate for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithFollowing is the information:
Industry before accepting the findings of the Interdepartmental Working Party on Unemployment Statistics.
349W
§ 74. Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations he had with the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress before accepting the report of the working party on unemployment statistics.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanThe report was made by a working party of officials from the Government Departments most concerned with the aspects of unemployment. It is not normal practice for this sort of inquiry to include formal consultation with outside bodies and the Government did not consider that such consultation was necessary before publishing the report.
§ 58. Mr. Loughlinasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of persons who were on strike and included in the unemployment figures as temporarily unemployed at the latest date.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe figures of the temporarily stopped do not include
REGISTERED UNEMPLOYED AND TEMPORARILY STOPPED PERSONS NOT RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT 1ST MAY, 1972 In receipt of Supplementary Benefit Getting no Benefit Total 255,051 160,571 Reason for non-receipt of UB— Unemployment Benefit exhausted 148,361 47,319 Unemployment Benefit not yet decided 15,116 48,633 Married women (other than those in the two groups above) — 13,626 Other reasons 91,574 50,993 of which: Waiting days not completed 700* 6,200* Left last job voluntarily 9,300* 5,900* Lost job through "industrial misconduct" 2,600* 3,100* Contribution deficiency 68,900* 21,300* In receipt of payment in lieu of wages 2,000* 1,200* Miscellaneous other reasons 8,100* 13,400* * Estimates based upon a sample of cases which may be subject to error.
§ 65. Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that the unemployment figures produced by his Department for Scotland give an accurate description of the employment situation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe White Paper on Unemployment Statistics (Cmnd. 5157) published on 20th November and accepted by the Government makes it clear that the figures now presented by my Department are the best available monthly indicator of changes in unemployment, both in Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
350Wworkers who were themselves on strike, but could include those suspended from work as a consequence of strikes.
§ 60. Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will further analyse the 91,574 persons described as others in receipt of supplementary benefit only in Annex C of the Report of an inter-departmental working party on unemployment statistics, Command Paper No. 5157, since these others form a substantial proportion of the whole category;
(2) if he will further analyse the 50,993 persons described as others in the category Getting No Benefit in Annex C of the Report of an Inter-Departmental Working Party on Unemployment Statistics, Command Paper No. 5157, since these others form a substantial proportion of the whole category.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkFollowing is a fuller analysis:
§ 70. Mr. Redmondasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now give the results of the examination into the unemployment figures referred to by the Prime Minister in answer to the hon. Member for Bolton, West on 24th October, 1972.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe results of the examination referred to were published as a White Paper (Cmnd. 5157) on 20th November, 1972. The Working Party on Unemployment Statistics was satisfied that the present unemployment statistics are the best available indicator 351W of monthly changes in unemployment at national and local levels.
§ 75. Mr. Guy Barnettasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the preliminary findings of the 1971 Census in so far as they relate to the level of unemployment.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe provisional Census estimate of economically active persons out of employment in April, 1971, was about 1,366,000. As stated in the foreword to the Census volume this may be an over-estimate, particularly for females.
The Census figure measures that group of people who described themselves as either seeking work or waiting to take up a job, including those who are sick. This is a wider and necessarily more numerous group than that registered at my Department's offices and included in the monthly count.
Included in the Census figure but not registered with my Department are (1) people who were sick and not available for work (2) people waiting to take up a job who may have been unemployed for a short period and so did not trouble to register and (3) others, including many married women who were not seeking work very actively, and may be regarded as only marginally attached to the labour force or as choosing their moment to enter it.
Until the Census material is available in full the number in the first of these groups will not be known accurately. The numbers in the other groups will not be ascertainable.
The Census estimates are fully discussed in the recent White Paper on Unemployment Statistics (Cmnd. 5157).
§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the report of the interdepartmental working party on unemployment statistics.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanThe report of the Working Party on Unemployment Statistics was published as a White Paper (Cmnd. 5157) on 20th November. I have nothing to add to the statements I made on that date and on 22nd November in reply to a Private Notice Question.