§ Mr. Meadowcroftasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the numbers of men and women 502W 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 ClarkUnemployment 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. Ashleyasked 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 ClarkThe information is not available in the form requested.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked 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 MorrisonThe 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. Ashleyasked 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 ClarkThe 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. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many unemployed people there were per job vacancy, at the latest date for which figures are 503W 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 ClarkWhile 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. Ashleyasked 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 ClarkComparable 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. Ashleyasked 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 ClarkThe 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.