HC Deb 11 November 1975 vol 899 cc644-53W
Mr. Urwin

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many building trade operatives are unemployed by craft and region at the latest available date; and what are the comparable figures for each year from 1969 to 1974.

Mr. John Fraser

The occupational analyses presented in the following tables relate to the numbers of unemployed males registered at employment offices who last worked in construction. Figures on a broadly comparable basis are available only from the introduction of the Classification of Occupations and Directory of Occupational Titles in December 1972. From October 1974 the figures for some regions relate to revised areas which differ slightly from those previously in use.

December 1972
South East East Anglia South West West Midlands East Midlands Yorkshire and Humberside North West North Wales Scotland
Site and other managers, agents and clerks of works, general foremen (building and civil engineering) 80 11 28 24 14 25 29 35 19 45
Carpenters and joiners (construction sites and maintenance) 275 33 62 138 37 86 269 41 67 337
Maintenance fitters (non-electrical) plant and industrial machinery 107 11 30 54 33 85 151 141 131 158
Electricians (installation and maintenance) premises and ships 234 39 52 85 30 110 352 160 244 342
Cable jointers and linesmen 15 — — 11 1 17 12 14 5 32
Plumbers, pipe fitters 326 21 39 98 56 173 415 200 249 354
Heating and ventilating engineering fitters 60 1 8 20 10 28 67 45 14 33
Gas fitters 36 — — 5 5 3 34 5 7 13
Steel erectors 325 10 27 124 106 290 270 300 291 318
Scaffolders, stagers 98 9 16 52 32 88 167 96 131 212
Steel benders, bar benders and fixers 73 4 14 39 28 47 116 46 36 188
Painters and decorators 1,508 138 224 464 164 464 737 277 238 576
Bricklayers 141 16 46 83 47 68 196 59 31 145
Fixer/walling masons 6 — 4 2 — 1 10 3 4 7
Plasterers 90 10 19 33 13 17 74 17 24 95
Floor and wall tilers, terrazzo workers 42 4 3 13 5 9 54 22 2 39
Roofers and slaters 114 8 19 56 12 54 123 87 33 185
Glaziers 30 2 1 15 4 7 36 11 5 30
Asphalt and bitumen road surfacers 29 1 2 30 5 15 31 9 10 40
Other roadmen 39 10 15 29 10 26 87 24 8 52
Concrete erectors/assemblers 18 1 — 1 — 2 7 3 — 11
Concrete levellers/screeders 25 5 5 23 7 23 24 19 1 37
Mains and service layers and pipe jointers (gas, water, drainage, oil) 57 8 12 48 17 46 86 58 12 81
Mechanical plant drivers/operators (earth moving and civil engineering) 126 39 80 128 105 144 177 208 145 231
Crane drivers/operators 85 5 17 47 15 68 102 70 46 103
Fork lift and other mechanical truck drivers/operators 46 6 3 54 25 30 45 20 27 45
All other occupations, including labourers 12,513 1,385 4,109 6,695 4,085 8,463 14,424 10,428 8,167 16,581
Total, all occupations 16,498 1,777 4,835 8,371 4,866 10,389 18,095 12,398 9,947 20,290
October 1973
South East East Anglia South West West Midlands East Midlands Yorkshire and Humberside North West North Wales Scotland
Site and other managers, agents and clerks of works, general foremen (building and civil engineering) 89 9 23 25 9 21 43 10 25 33
Carpenters and joiners (construction sites and maintenance) 205 26 51 61 32 42 183 49 46 151
Maintenance fitters (non-electrical) plant and industrial machinery 50 10 22 18 19 44 104 118 97 69
Electricians (installation and maintenance) premises and ships 127 24 20 23 27 60 131 115 116 105
Cable jointers and linesmen 3 — 2 4 1 8 10 4 2 11
Plumbers, pipe fitters 215 15 37 55 60 116 269 232 253 184
Heating and ventilating engineering fitters 41 3 4 5 6 19 45 18 14 18
Gas fitters 20 4 1 2 6 5 20 4 7 4
Steel erectors 147 5 17 60 46 266 227 239 210 162
Scaffolders, stagers 78 6 11 31 15 71 168 75 119 118
Steel benders, bar benders and fixers 30 2 15 16 12 18 70 33 39 113
Painters and decorators 825 38 130 228 77 145 316 131 155 253
Bricklayers 121 13 26 61 31 40 147 58 31 102
Fixer/walling masons 2 1 5 2 — — 2 2 2 5
Plasterers 71 3 14 29 15 20 60 25 16 33
Floor and wall tilers, terrazzo workers 26 3 2 4 3 10 21 13 1 29
Roofers and slaters 48 6 18 36 16 27 68 42 18 94
Glaziers 6 2 1 10 2 7 23 6 1 20
Asphalt and bitumen road surfacers 14 — 8 3 11 6 16 5 3 24
Other roadmen 35 8 4 4 14 9 47 31 8 21
Concrete erectors/assemblers 7 1 — 2 — 2 3 2 — 5
Concrete levellers/screeders 13 1 4 8 5 8 15 2 5 27
Mains and service layers and pipe jointers (gas, water, drainage, oil) 35 5 5 24 9 21 67 33 21 65
Mechanical plant drivers/operators (earth moving and civil engineering) 44 13 36 37 48 78 91 77 76 107
Crane drivers/operators 45 4 8 17 15 34 78 40 39 45
Fork lift and other mechanical truck drivers/operators 139 4 1 27 7 17 53 16 14 37
All other occupations, including labourers 8,409 863 2,845 3,747 2,846 5,845 10,474 8,040 5,720 12,003
Total, all occupations 10,845 1,069 3,310 4,539 3,332 6,939 12,751 9,420 7,038 13,838
October 1974
South East* East Anglia South West* West Midlands East Midlands* Yorkshire and Humberside* North West* North* Wales Scotland
Site and other managers, agents and clerks of works, general foremen (building and civil engineering) 193 27 75 51 23 51 84 33 52 68
Carpenters and joiners (construction sites and maintenance) 535 62 222 143 114 172 586 395 199 425
Maintenance fitters (non-electrical) plant and industrial machinery 74 14 24 34 51 103 139 106 118 93
Electricians (installation and maintenance) premises and ships 175 28 86 54 54 107 281 190 169 176
Cable jointers and linesmen 8 2 3 5 7 9 4 7 4 15
Plumbers, pipe fitters 309 23 100 98 82 181 530 422 254 365
Heating and ventilating engineering fitters 64 7 18 12 16 21 76 29 34 29
Gas fitters 79 5 4 5 24 26 37 14 27 16
Steel erectors 141 10 62 58 86 253 174 171 162 133
Scaffolders, stagers 117 9 40 34 36 111 156 103 132 119
Steel benders, bar benders and fixers 71 12 35 26 33 40 93 45 59 95
Painters and decorators 1,447 89 387 289 221 286 688 367 267 403
Bricklayers 530 64 318 186 169 308 823 545 236 221
Fixer/walling masons 4 — 28 5 3 5 4 6 7 10
Plasterers 189 16 122 42 49 91 276 231 103 103
Floor and wall tilers, terrazzo workers 38 2 11 12 9 11 38 22 6 45
Roofers and slaters 92 7 62 43 28 48 110 56 45 114
Glaziers 29 1 10 8 5 10 19 10 4 22
Asphalt and bitumen road surfacers 31 2 13 11 17 20 55 15 4 30
Other roadmen 38 6 7 25 56 20 109 54 6 27
Concrete erectors/assemblers 9 1 2 12 3 6 5 1 — 10
Concrete levellers/screeders 48 — 12 14 10 28 27 16 8 21
Mains and service layers and pipe jointers (gas, water, drainage, oil) 75 7 28 20 36 41 60 54 24 24
Mechanical plant drivers/operators (earth moving and civil engineering) 147 30 111 86 117 142 236 144 186 208
Crane drivers/operators 59 5 28 25 26 37 82 53 50 80
Fork lift and other mechanical truck drivers/operators 39 6 8 33 9 24 59 31 25 37
All other occupations, including labourers 12,734 1,428 5,196 4,893 4,188 7,124 13,743 9,915 6,966 12,523
Total, all occupations 17,275 1,863 7,012 6,224 5,472 9,275 18,494 13,035 9,147 15,412
October 1975
South East* East Anglia South West* West Midlands East Midlands* Yorkshire and Humberside* North West* North* Wales Scotland
Site and other managers, agents and clerks of works, general foremen (building and civil engineering) 290 39 165 98 55 92 151 56 94 97
Carpenters and joiners (construction sites and maintenance) 1,531 294 723 497 293 504 1,429 818 525 809
Maintenance fitters (non-electrical) plant and industrial machinery 182 21 68 97 61 101 212 186 170 193
Electricians (installation and maintenance) premises and ships 671 85 287 246 127 143 530 220 228 404
Cable jointers and linesmen 22 12 5 20 5 8 16 5 9 15
Plumbers, pipe fitters 724 59 301 247 144 285 857 416 374 453
Heating and ventilating engineering fitters 155 16 56 37 60 53 141 54 48 53
Gas fitters 84 10 15 11 12 16 39 38 13 20
Steel erectors 236 29 88 224 109 217 212 123 276 202
Scaffolders, stagers 297 30 78 118 82 132 241 109 168 148
Steel benders, bar benders and fixers 233 26 82 86 45 79 148 85 77 179
Painters and decorators 2,987 252 834 844 327 586 1,179 663 513 676
Bricklayers 1,001 176 681 421 229 539 1,242 543 452 505
Fixer/walling masons 12 2 88 8 5 12 16 11 17 10
Plasterers 416 60 246 153 96 190 605 279 241 139
Floor and wall tilers, terrazzo workers 92 8 34 42 14 23 85 41 13 61
Roofers and slaters 403 28 134 137 79 112 291 104 83 261
Glaziers 77 5 18 32 11 23 58 23 9 37
Asphalt and bitumen road surfacers 70 7 21 51 10 23 86 25 6 48
Other roadmen 112 6 45 47 19 45 169 63 12 53
Concrete erectors/assemblers 22 — 5 12 4 7 6 4 2 6
Concrete levellers/screeders 80 5 29 36 16 33 33 16 8 27
Mains and service layers and pipe jointers (gas, water, drainage, oil) 106 29 62 73 38 66 110 49 41 40
Mechanical plant drivers/operators (earth moving and civil engineering) 314 82 240 202 142 255 324 204 332 340
Crane drivers/operators 187 15 42 54 31 47 123 72 72 130
Fork lift and other mechanical truck drivers/operators 175 13 39 123 19 47 242 37 49 196
All other occupations, including labourers 23,750 2,879 9,185 9,463 6,581 10,656 19,001 12,215 10,963 17,337
Total, all occupations 34,229 4,188 13,571 13,379 8,614 14,294 27,546 16,459 14,795 22,439
* Regional boundaries were revised in October 1974
The tables do not include data from careers offices

Mr. Cordle

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many building trade workers are presently unemployed in southern England; and how this position compares with October 1974 and October 1973, respectively.

Mr. John Fraser

Following is the information:

Numbers unemployed who last worked in Construction: South-East and South-West Regions
October 1975 49,490
October 1974 25,044
October 1973 14,722