§ 32. Mr. Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures; and what percentage they represent for each of the categories which make up the production industries.
§ Mr. BoothOn 9th October, 1,114,211 people were unemployed in Great Britain. The industrial analysis is not yet available. However, in September when there were 1,212,231 people unemployed, 1.3 per cent. last worked in mining and quarrying, 25.1 per cent., in manufacturing industries, 14 per cent. in construction and 0.6 per cent. in gas, electricity and water.
§ 40. Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest unemployment rate for Birmingham; and how this compares with the rate for Great Britain as a whole.
§ Mr. John FraserOn 9th October the rate for unemployment for the Birmingham travel-to-work area was 6.5 per cent. and for Great Britain 4.9 per cent.
§ 44. Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he remains satisfied with progress towards reducing the total of persons wholly unemployed from the level at the time of his appointment to office.
§ 56. Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made on the medical advice available to his Department, of the percentage of the current total of registered unemployed who are considered to be unemployable for psychiatric reasons.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerAll registered unemployed people, including those with a history of mental illness, are regarded as employable. Some, for psychiatric—and other—reasons are thought to have poor prospects, but no estimate has been made of their number.
§ Mr. John H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Employment what number and percentage of those unemployed at the present time are from the public sector and what number and percentage are from the private sector.
§ Mr. BoothI regret that the information is not available. The unemployment statistics identify the industry in which an unemployed person last worked but do not distinguish between organisations in the public and private sectors.
§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing (a) the latest unemployment rate, (b) the ratio of notified job vacancies to unemployed persons, (c) the ratio of industrial training places to employees and (d) the ratio of industrial training places to unemployed persons for Scotland, Wales, England and each of the standard English planning regions.
§ Mr. John FraserThe replies to parts (a) and (b) are as follows:
Percentage rate of unemployment—October 1975 Scotland 5.8 Wales 6.9 England 4.7 South-East 3.5 East Anglia 4.1 South-West 5.5 West Midlands 5.3 East Midlands 4.2 Yorkshire and Humberside 4.8 North-West 6.2 Northern 6.9 (b) Vacancy statistics relate only to vacancies notified to employment offices and careers offices and are not a measure of total vacancies. Because of possible duplication the figures for employment 463W offices and careers offices cannot be added together and thus it is not possible to calculate the unemployement ratios
Unemployed Notified Unfilled Vacancies Employment Offices Careers Offices Scotland … … … 125,796 15,497 2,323 Wales … … … 70,447 4,528 896 England … … … 917,968 109,399 22,386 South-East … … … 258,018 54,436 10,399 East Anglia … … … 28,036 4,158 912 South-West … … … 86,146 8,551 1,816 West Midlands … … … 121,998 6,305 2,053 East Midlands … … … 63,721 7,609 1,546 Yorkshire and Humberside … … … 97,304 8,667 2,205 North-West … … … 173,408 11,300 2,328 North … … … 89,337 8,373 1,127 (c and d) I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that it is not possible to give ratios of industrial training places to employees or unemployed persons as the number of training places available at any time under the Training Opportunities Scheme is capable of adjusting to the state of demand for training. While the places available in the Training Services Agency's skillcentres are fixed at a given date the places available in colleges of further education and employers' establishments can be increased at very short notice.