§ Mr. Hall-Davisasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of applications received to date under the job release scheme; how many were received in each week since the scheme commenced; and whether he can break down the total by region or other geographical area.
§ Mr. GoldingThe number of applications received by 11th February was94W *8,805. The Job Release Scheme came into operation on 3rd January 1977, but advance applications were accepted from 1st November onwards. The number received each week since then was as follows:
week ending: 12th November 1976 … … 29 19th November 1976 … … 186 26th November 1976 … … 560 3rd December 1976 … … 784 10th December 1976 … … 721 17th December 1976 … … 544 24th December 1976 … … 632 31sth December 1976 … … 312 7th January 1977 … … 200 14th January 1977 … … 1,200 21st January 1977 … … 1,200 28th January 1977 … … 941 4th February 1977 … … 782 11th February 1977 … … 714 * This figure includes a small number or re-applications.
A breakdown of application received is not available, but the breakdown of applications approved by region on 8th February was as follows:
South Western … 321 West Midlands … 21 East Midlands … 100 Yorkshire and Humberside … 1,260 North West … 2,169 Northern … 740 Wales … 548 Scotland … 928