HC Deb 22 June 1981 vol 7 cc9-10W
Mr. Dubs

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any proposals to increase the pay of persons working on the youth opportunities programme.

Mr. Peter Morrison

I have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Mr. Foster) on 1 June.—[Vol. 5, c.270.]

April 1981
Unemployed for over 26 and up to 52 weeks Unemployed over 52 weeks
Walsall travel-to-work area 6,404 4,744
Dudley and Sandwell travel-to-work area 10,826 7,061
Wolverhampton travel-to-work area 5,444 4,503
West Midlands region 77,108 57,700

Mr. Winnick

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the total number of redundancies which have occurred in the Walsall travel-to-work area, the Black Country areas and the West Midlands as a whole since May 1979; and if he will also give the number of redundancies which occurred from 1970 to 1979 for the same areas.

Mr. Peter Morrison

There are no comprehensive statistics of redundancies. Following is the available information relating to redundancies, involving 10 or more employees, reported to the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur in the areas requested.

Redundancies reported as due to occur:
May 1979 to May 1981 (inclusive)* 1975 to 1979 (inclusive)†
Walsall travel-to-work area 6,600 3,300
Black Country 33,000 25,000
West Midlands 106,000 101,000
* Including provisional data for April and May 1981.
† Figures prior to 1975 are not available.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many men aged 45 years and over are registered as unemployed in (a) Wolverhampton and (b) the West Midlands; how many have been unemployed for over a year; and what are the comparable figures for May 1979 and May 1980.

Mr. Peter Morrison

I reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people have (a) joined and (b) left the unemployment register each month for the past two years in (i) Wolverhampton and (ii) the West Midlands.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The information is as in the following table: