Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the details of the recent action taken in the North-West region by his Department to reduce youth unemployment, and the cost of such action together with similar information on the action taken in the same region by his Department to reduce adult unemployment.
§ Mr. GoldingThe North-West has benefited from the full range of special measures which the Government have introduced to help young people in particular. Under the youth opportunities programme, for example, which was inaugurated in April 1978, some 24,000 unemployed young people in the region have been helped. The Manpower Services Commission has also given priority to en-642W suring that no youngster who left school in Easter or summer 1978 and is still unemployed should be without the offer of a place on the programme. Although in some areas of very high unemployment, there has been difficulty in meeting this objective, every effort is being made to do so. The budget for this programme for the year 1978–79 in the North-West is £22.3 million.
In addition, community industry currently provides 585 places in the North-West at an estimated annual cost of about £1 million with an additional 490 places approved. The Government have also made available funds for 52 additional careers officers and 50 support staff for the North-West, at a cost in the year 1978–79 of about £0.4 million. I have recently held discussions with members of the careers service in Merseyside, Chester. North Cheshire and Wigan to gain a firsthand impression of problems they encounter.
Adults in the North-West region have also benefited from the Government's special measures, and so far almost 255,000 adults and young persons in the region have been helped by these measures. With the exception of the youth opportunities programme and community industry, detailed information on the cost of these measures is not available on a regional basis.
My right hon. Friend announced on 20 February the Government's new programme of special measures to operate from 1 April. This was supplemented by his announcement on 8 March that the job release scheme is to be expanded to open up more jobs for unemployed people.
Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the percentage of construction workers unemployed in the North-West region; and what plans he has to reduce the number of unemployed in this industry.
§ Mr. GoldingAt 8 February, the latest date for which an industrial analysis of the unemployed is available, the rate of unemployment of workers who last worked in the construction industry in the North-West region was 16.1 per cent.
The injection of an additional allocation of £811 million during 1977 and 643W 1978 to public sector construction work up to 1980 has enabled the main Departmental programme to show a stable pattern of demand. This, in turn, has helped confidence in the industry, and during the last 12 months there has been a 7 per cent. increase in output.
The Property Services Agency has a number of projects in the North-West in progress, which together will provide considerable employment in the industry for some years ahead. Included among these projects are:
- (i) Dept. National Savings—a building at Blackpool, costing £11.5 million is almost complete.
- (ii) DHSS—a building at Norcross, Blackpool has just been started to accommodate staff dealing with work dispersed to the area. Cost £9 million.
- (iii) OPCS—a £4.5 million building at Southport is 7 per cent. complete.
- (iv) DHSS—a new Crown building at Park Road, Liverpool, costing £1.5 million, is 20 per cent. complete.
- (v) DHSS—a new Crown building at Cherryfield Drive, Kirkby, costing £1 million is 7 per cent. complete.
In addition to these major schemes, a number of important refurbishment projects throughout the North-West are in hand or in the planning stage, and the
Bury St. Edmunds Newmarket Haverhill January February January February January February 1970 … … 452 501 129 116 151 156 1971 … … 621 671 177 171 218 191 1972 … … 866 846 221 225 322 317 1973 … … 530 500 179 170 437 336 1974 … … 416 438 150 175 164 157 1979 … … 935 961 483 487 432 425