§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people are drawing unemployment benefit in Scotland and have not worked since leaving school at the latest convenient date; and what is the comparable total on the same date in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. YoungerI refer the hon. Member to my letter of 22 October. Information for Scotland on claimants who have not entered employment since completing full-time education is available in the House of Commons Library. However, apart from the figures for under-18-year-olds — for which adjustments have been made at the all-Scotland level—some of the statistics are not directly comparable because of the change from a registrant to a claimant based count in October 1982.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of people in Scotland who have been out of work for 52 weeks or more at the latest convenient date; and what was the comparable total on the same date in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. YoungerI refer the hon. Member to my letter of 22 October. This information is available in the House of Commons Library, although the figures are not directly comparable due to the change in the basis of the count in October 1982.