§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department has studied the development of a machine by a company in Newcastle for detecting solvent fumes from glue; if he will draw the attention of such work to police and social work departments; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MacKayI wrote to the hon. Member about this matter on 11 January; a copy of my reply has been placed in the Library.
Numbers unemployed (thousands) Percentage increase 1979 (average) 1982 (September) 1979-September 1982 Scotland 160 305 91 Germany 876 2,010 129 France 1,350 2,040 51 Italy* 1,653 2,363 43 Netherlands 210 571 172 Belgium† 294 475 62 Luxembourg* 1 2 97 United Kingdom 1,227 2,866 134 Ireland 90 165 83 Denmark 159 259 63 Greece† 32 45 41 United States of America 5,963 11,260 89 Japan 1,170 1,430 22 Canada 838 1,458 74 Notes: (1) The unemployment figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, and are for September 1982, the latest available common date. Percentage increases are rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) For all EEC countries except Belgium, Scotland and the United Kingdom, the figures relate to numbers registering as unemployed at employment offices. Figures for Belgium represent the insured unemployed, and those for Scotland and the United Kingdom are based on the numbers claiming unemployment benefit, excluding school leavers. (3) Figures for the United States of America, Japan and Canada are derived from sample surveys. * Not seasonally adjusted. † Estimate.