§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average number of weeks spent on unemployment by a school leaver; and if he will give his answer by United Kingdom region.
§ Mr. GoldingI regret that the information required is not available in the precise form requested. The nearest available information relates to the unemployed registered at careers offices, a substantial proportion of whom are school leavers. The table below shows for each United Kingdom region, on the four dates during the past year for which statistics are available, the median length of time spent on the unemployment register by a person still unemployed on the date of the count, together with the proportions of school-leavers included in these statistics.
Figures are not available for the average total length of time spent on the unemployment register for a person who has completed a period of unemployment.
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UNEMPLOYED REGISTERED AT CAREERS OFFICES January 1977 April 1977 July 1977 October 1977 Region Median length of time registered as unemployed (weeks) School leavers as percentages of total unemployed registered at Careers Offices Median length of time registered as unemployed (weeks) School leavers as percentages of total unemployed registered at Careers Offices Median length of time registered as unemployed (weeks) School leavers as percentages of total unemployed registered at Careers Offices Median length of time registered as unemployed (weeks) School leavers as percentages of total unemployed registered at Careers Offices South-East … 9.4 34.3 4.8 44.5 3.0 75.1 9.6 51.2 East Anglia … 12.0 30.4 8.8 42.7 4.5 76.7 12.5 49.9 South-West … 14.9 44.1 8.6 51.3 4.2 77.7 12.7 52.1 West Midlands … 16.8 43.2 4.6 58.5 2.9 81.7 15.3 60.6 East Midlands … 14.0 34.7 2.4 58.2 3.7 81.3 12.5 55.1 Yorkshire and Humberside 13.5 33.7 4.0 52.0 3.9 77.3 14.4 49.9 North-West … 21.4 53.3 7.6 58.9 4.8 82.6 16.8 66.2 North … … 19.6 44.0 5.4 57.9 6.0 78.7 16.4 62.9 Wales … … 17.5 44.3 6.5 55.1 2.8 77.7 14.3 59.5 Scotland* … … 5.6 64.2 15.9 51.8 6.3 79.6 14.2 62.4 Northern Ireland† 17.3 57.7 18.7 65.9 3.4 86.6 10.9 76.9 * In Scotland school-leaving dates are at Christmas and summer, but in England and Wales at Easter and summer. † In Northern Ireland the figures relate to December 1976, March 1977, June 1977 and September 1977