§ Mr. Philip Hollandasked the Secretary of State for Employment why the Advisory Committee on Women's Employment is being continued and to what extent it duplicates advice available from the Equal Opportunities Commission.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 15 May 1980, c. 481–2]: The committee is being continued because it provides, at a negligible cost, useful, practical, independent advice for Ministers on all matters relating to women in employment. The chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission and two other members of the commission are also members of the advisory committee on a personal basis. The expertise and views of the committee are therefore, available to the Equal Opportunities Commission when it is considering the employment aspects of its statutory duties to
EMPLOYEES IN EMPLOYMENT (Thousands) England Scotland Wales Great Britain Great Britain Industry June 1977 June 1979† Minimum List Headings (MLHs) of the Standard Industrial Classification Production of man-made fibres (MLH411) … … … 31.7 29.7 Spinning and doubling of the cotton and flax systems (MLH 412) … … … … 68.5* 6.0* 6.5* 49.3 42.1 Weaving of cotton, linen and man-made fibres (MLH 413) … 36.3 2.7 — 39.0 36.1 Woollen and worsted (MLH 414) 69.8 11.6 1.1 82.4 76.3 Hosiery and other knitted goods (MLH 417) … … … 98.4 14.7 1.8 114.9 1091 Carpets (MLH 419) … … 28.4 6.4 0.3 35.2 32.6 Textile finishing (MLH 423) … 40.7 5.8 0.8 47.3 45.1 Clothing and footwear (MLHs 441.450) … … … … 321.6 32.6 15.7 369.8 362.2 Rest of textiles (MLHs 415, 416, 418, 421, 422 and 429) … … 66.3 11.9 2.2 80.4 78.1 * To avoid disclosure, directly or indirectly, of information concerning an individual firm, the separate figures for England, Scotland and Wales for MLHs 411 and 412 have been combined. † Provisional.