§ Mr. Welshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish figures showing the present numbers and percentages of total work forces involved in the construction industries in Scotland, together with the numbers and percentages of unemployed in these industries and what measures he is taking to meet the needs of the Scottish situation.
§ Mr. GoldingI have been asked to reply.
At June 1976, the latest date for which information is available, the provisional estimate of the number of employees in employment in Scotland was 2,072,000, of whom 167,400–8.1 per cent.—were in construction. The latest date for which an industrial analysis of the numbers unemployed is available is August 1976. At that date the number of people registered as unemployed in Scotland was 170,100 of whom 28,290–16.6 per cent.—last worked in the construction industry.
Assistance to the construction industry is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.