HC Deb 12 December 1984 vol 69 cc501-3W
Mr. Meadowcroft

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the numbers of men and women unemployed, and the percentage rate of unemployment, in the Armley, Bramley, Kirkstall, Pudsey North, Pudsey South and Wortley wards of Leeds city council.

Mr. Alan Clark

Unemployment data for individual wards will not be available until the middle of next year. Furthermore, the smallest local areas for which unemployment rates are calculated are travel-to-work areas.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will estimate the percentage of people in the United Kingdom who, on becoming unemployed, find jobs within (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) 12 months; and what relationship there is between the corresponding local figures and the local overall unemployment rate.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information is not available in the form requested.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the percentage change in employment in England in (a) manufacturing industry and (b) the service industry for each year since 1979; what is the cumulative total since 1979; and if he will give separate figures for men and women.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The information is as follows:

Percentage change in employment in England
June each Manufacturing industries Service industries
year Male Female Male Female
1979–80 - 3.6 - 4.8 0.6 1.3
1980–81 - 9.3 -11.9 -2.5 -1.4
1981–82 - 4.4 - 5.5 -0.4 0.4
1982–83 - 4.1 - 4.9 0.4 0.7
1983–84 - 0.9 - 1.3 2.1 2.2
1979–84 -20.6 -25.7 0.2 3.3

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment, in each of the travel-to-work areas which have newly been given assisted area status, what percentage of employed people work in (a) manufacturing industries and (b) service industries; and what are the corresponding figures for the Stoke-on-Trent travel-to-work area.

Mr. Alan Clark

The latest available information from the September 1981 census of employment is as follows:

Employees in Employment
Travel-to-work area Manufacturing industries per cent. Service industries per cent.
Cinderford and Ross-on-Wye 47 42
Birmingham 37 56
Coventry and Hinckley 46 47
Dudley and Sandwell 49 44
Kidderminster 43 48
Telford and Bridgnorth 38 51
Walsall 45 44
Wolverhampton 41 52
Sheffield 35 55
Blackburn 46 49
Oldham 48 45
Stoke 44 44

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed people there were per job vacancy, at the latest date for which figures are available, for each of the travel-to-work areas which have newly been given assisted area status; and what are the corresponding figures for the Stoke-on-Trent travel-to-work area.

Mr. Alan Clark

While unemployment totals are available, vacancy figures have not been compiled for the new travel-to-work areas. Moreover, the available statistics of vacancies notified to jobcentres and careers offices only cover a proportion of the total unfilled vacancies.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give figures showing which of the travel-to-work areas newly given assisted area status had their boundaries redrawn for which there was a resultant (a) increase and (b) decrease in the unemployment rate; how large the changes were in each case; and if he will give corresponding figures for the Stoke-on-Trent travel-to-work area.

Mr. Alan Clark

Comparable unemployment rates for the old and new travel-to-work areas are not available. The complete map of travel-to-work area boundaries has been revised. The new areas were defined using the latest available data on commuting patterns from the 1981 census of population. They represent the best approximation to a subdivision of the country into separate labour markets for which unemployment rates provide a measure of the local mismatch between labour supply and demand, and as such are the local areas for which the Department publishes unemployment rates.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what percentage of the work force in each of the travel-to-work areas which have newly been given assisted area status have been unemployed for more than (a) one year and (b) two years; and what are the corresponding figures for the Stoke-on-Trent travel-to-work area;

(2) what are the percentages of unemployed people who have been unemployed for more than (a) one year and (b) two years in each of the travel-to-work areas which have newly been given assisted area status; and what are the corresponding figures for the Stoke-on-Trent travel-to-work area.

Mr. Alan Clark

The information requested in respect of claimants unemployed for more than one year is available in the House of Commons Library. The figures are provisional and include an estimate for those whose claims are not dealt with by computer. Full analysis by duration, including figures for those unemployed for over two years, will not be available for the new travel-to-work areas until next year.