HC Deb 23 May 1972 vol 837 c357W
Mr. Millan

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the total number of clerical and other office jobs dispensed from London and the South-East, respectively, in each of the last five years.

Mr. Speed

The following are the numbers of jobs moved from central London by clients of the Location of Offices Bureau during each of the last five years ended 31st March:

1967–68 14,002
1968–69 10,995
1969–70 9,367
1970–71 8,040
1971–72 12,884
55,288
Research by the bureau suggests that total movement from central London is probably twice that amount. Deducting the dispersal from central London to the rest of the greater London area, I estimate that some 70,000 office jobs may have been moved out of greater London during the last five years. Information is not available on the amount of office dispersal out of the South-East in this period.