HC Deb 16 December 1980 vol 996 c148W
Mr. Robert C. Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are on short-time working in (a) the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, (b) Tyneside and (c) the Northern region: and what were the comparable figures a year ago and in May 1979.

Mr. Jim Lester

Statistics on short-time working are collected only for operatives in manufacturing industries and are not available below regional level.

During the week ended 13 September 1980, the latest date for which information is available, there were 22,400 operatives on short-time working, either for the whole or for part of the week, in the Northern region. The corresponding figures during the weeks ended 8 September 1979 and 5 May 1979 were 2,300 and 1,400 respectively.

Mr. Robert C. Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are at present in employment and being supported by the temporary short-time working scheme in (a) the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, (b) Tyneside and (c) the Northern region.

Mr. Jim Lester

The following table shows the number of potentially redundant employees who were being supported in October 1980 under the temporary short time working compensation scheme.

(a) City of Newcastle upon Tyne 1,144
(b) Tyneside 5,021
(c) Northern Region 8,544