§ Q99. Mr. Patrick Thompsonasked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement about the action the Government are taking to help and encourage people taking up job opportunities in locations which are a considerable distance from their home.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Government have taken action in a number of areas. In the case of housing a number of changes have been made designed wholly or in part to promote mobility. For example we have extended the right to buy and have eased restrictions on private lettings. We have also introduced low cost home ownership initiatives which assist mobility by enabling public sector tenants to buy a home in a new area and by helping owner occupiers to overcome differences in house prices between regions. In the public sector the Government have set up the national mobility scheme and has given secure tenants a statutory right to exchange homes. These measures have made it easier for council tenants to move from one area to another.
The Government have also maintained arrangements, through the Manpower Services Commission's employment transfer and job search schemes, to help fill vacancies for which employers cannot find suitable workers locally, by providing grants to unemployed 197W people to move home to take such jobs or to look for work in other areas. Similar help is also available in certain circumstances to recipients of supplementary benefit from the Department of Health and Social Security.
Through the increasing use of modern technology, the public employment service is becoming better able to circulate details of job opportunities, and particularly vacancies which are hard to fill locally, to jobcentres in other parts of the country.