§ Mr. Hefferasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the present levels of unemployment on Merseyside; what action his Department is taking to reduce the numbers of unemployed in the area; and what success he has achieved.
§ Mr. GoldingOn 8th December there were 87,202 persons unemployed in Merseyside—which represented an unemployment rate of 11.5 per cent.
The area is continuing to benefit from the special measures which were introduced to help alleviate the effects of the increased unemployment brought by the recession and which are administered by my Department and the Manpower Services Commission. So far, it is estimated that these measures have assisted over 41,000 persons on Merseyside. The area will also stand to benefit from the special temporary employment programme and the youth opportunities programme which are due to come into operation in the coming months.