§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will hold an inquiry into the reasons why the numbers registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Leicester Employment Exchange rose from 1.6 per cent. of the total work force in January, 1971, to 3 per cent. in January, 1972; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithSince my Department already has a great deal of information about the unemployment situation in
36Wterms in the classification and figures are given in the following table for aerospace equipment manufacturing and repairing and for the hotel, catering, etc. industries.
Leicester, and other local areas, my right hon. Friend does not consider that a special inquiry would serve a useful purpose. While the increase in unemployment in Leicester over the past year is largely a reflection of the lower level of economic activity nationally, major contributory factors locally have been reduced activity in engineering industries and a substantial increase in the numbers temporarily stopped, mainly because of the indirect effects of industrial disputes. Leicester, along with other parts of the country, should benefit from the extensive reflationary measures we have introduced.