§ Mr. Miscampbellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present unemployment level in Blackpool and the Fylde; and what steps he is taking to reduce unemployment.
§ Mr. GoldingOn 6th July 1978 there were 7,020 persons registered as unemployed in the Blackpool travel-to-work area. This represents an unemployment percentage rate of 6.5 per cent. The Government's special employment and training measures, which have so far benefited over 3,000 persons in the Blackpool travel-to-work area and over 788,000 in Great Britain as a whole, continue to be available to reduce unemployment. In the coming months, the development of the youth opportunities programme and the special temporary employment programme and the recent extension of the small firms employment subsidy will all provide further help.
In addition, as an assisted area, Blackpool will continue to benefit from the regional incentives available under the Industry Act to encourage investment and stimulate employment.
In the longer term, the success of the Government's industrial strategy and the reduction of inflation will bring about the conditions in which unemployment can be brought down and kept down, both in Blackpool and in the rest of the country.