§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the monthly figures for long-term unemployment for each of the last 24 months; what action he is taking to alleviate this hardship caused by long-term unemployment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonStatistics on duration of unemployment, giving details of numbers unemployed for more than six and more than 12 months, are compiled quarterly and for the period specified appear at table 2.5 of the December 1981 issue of theEmployment Gazette.
The measures we are taking to alleviate long-term unemployment are described in the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Stockport, North (Mr. Bennett) yesterday—[Vol. 16, c. 18].As she said, we are giving particular help to the long-term unemployed through the community enterprise and youth opportunities programmes, but our main aim is to improve the prospects of all unemployed people by pursuing policies to tackle the underlying causes of economic decline and rising unemployment.