§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the latest unemployment figures for (a) Liverpool and (b) Merseyside.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkI refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on Monday 25 June 1984, at column 345.
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§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to reduce unemployment amongst ethnic minorities in the Liverpool inner-city areas; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkLiverpool benefits from the very highest levels of Government economic assistance. It has special development area status, a development corporation, an inner city partnership and an enterprise zone. There have also been substantial increases in special employment and training measures to help those worst affected; in Merseyside we spent some £90 million in 1983–84. Ultimately the interests of the ethnic minorities in Liverpool and other inner cities are best served by securing sustainable growth in output and jobs.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment what plans his Department have for reducing long-term youth unemployment in the Liverpool travel-to-work area; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe problems of long-term unemployment will only be overcome as our industries become more competitive and sell more goods and services. The Government's policies aim to provide the conditions for industrial growth and the creation of sustainable new jobs. In the meantime special employment and training measures provide job and training opportunities for unemployed people. In particular, the community programme provides temporary job opportunities for those aged 18 to 24 who have been unemployed for six out of the past nine months.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the long-term unemployment figures amongst youth in the Liverpool travel-to-work area at the latest date and the respective figures for June 1979.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe following table gives the number of unemployed claimants aged under 18 years in the Liverpool travel-to-work area who had been unemployed for over 52 weeks in April 1984, the latest date for which the information is available. It also gives the corresponding figures for registered unemployed in April 1979 (not available for June) and the figures on both registration and claimants bases in October 1982.
The comparisons are affected by the change in the basis of the unemployment count in October 1982.
Number Registered unemployed April 1979 700 October 1982 480 Unemployed claimants October 1982 367 April 1984 509
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many job vacancies there are in the Liverpool travel-to-work area at the latest date; and what were the figures for June 1979.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkIn June 1984 the numbers of notified offices in the Liverpool travel-to-work area 2,737 and 37, respectively. The corresponding numbers in June 1979 were 2,713 at job centres and 48 at careers offices.
Vacancies notified to jobcentres are estimated to be about one-third of all vacancies in the country as a whole.
796WBecause of possible duplication, the figures for jobcentres and careers offices should not be added together. The number of vacancies unfilled at a particular date takes no account of the flow of vacancies being notified, filled or withdrawn which would reflect activity more closely. For example, during the 12-month period to March 1984, the number of people placed in jobs by jobcentres in the Liverpool travel-to-work area was 29,869. It is estimated that, nationally, the public employment service accounts for about one in four of all placings.