HL Deb 14 November 1985 vol 468 cc483-4WA

Lord Stallard asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the numbers of unemployed persons based on current registration criteria, for each of the Inner London Boroughs from 1979 to the latest date for which statistics are available; and

What are the numbers of vacancies registered at Jobcentres in each of the Inner London Boroughs from 1979 to the latest date for which figures are available.

The Secretary of State for Employment (Lord Young of Graffham)

The following information is in the Library. Table 1 shows the numbers of unemployed claimants in the 14 Inner London Boroughs as at 10th October 1985, together with the corresponding figures for October 1983 and 1984. However, it is not possible to give comparable figures for earlier years because of the change in the basis of the unemployment count in October 1982, the 1983 Budget provisions which mean that some men, mainly aged 60 or over, no longer need to sign on at unemployment benefit offices to receive benefit, and the change to ward-based system for allocating claimants to localities. The figures for October 1979 are therefore not comparable with the later information, but relate to the numbers of unemployed registrants at Jobcentres covering areas which closely correspond to the boroughs.

Table 2 shows the numbers of unfilled vacancies at these Jobcentres which closely correspond to the 14 Inner London Boroughs at 4th October 1985; and the corresponding figures for the same month in 1979, 1983 and 1984.

Table 1: UNEMPLOYMENT IN INNER LONDON BOROUGHS
Unemployed Claimants
Borough Unemployed Registrants October 1979 October 1983* October 1984 October 1985
Camden 3,427 13,343 15,184 15,365
City of London 61 155 127 117
Hackney 6,170 18,354 19,744 21,161
Hammersmith and Fulham 5,542 10,714 11,651 12,605
Haringey 5,604 15,391 16,595 17,717
Islington 7,695 14,645 15,995 16,585
Kensington and Chelsea 3,495 8,432 9,459 9,733
Lambeth 7,485 23,198 24,851 27,245
Lewisham 6,161 15,690 17,161 18,076
Newham 5,582 15,946 16,618 17,217
Southwark 7,149 18,291 20,432 21,658
Tower Hamlets 5,609 15,500 15,726 16,266
Wandsworth 5,271 15,212 16,364 16,728
City of Westminster 10,908 12,324 14,226 14,682
*Figures for 1983 are estimates.
TABLE 2: UNFILLED VACANCIES AT JOBCENTRES IN INNER LONDON

BOROUGHS

Borough October 1979 October 1983 October 1984 October 1985
Camden 1,062 727 631 689
City of London 632 18 9 2
Hackney 1,990 998 882 727
Hammersmith and Fulham 1,512 865 902 648
Haringey 3,065 960 1,113 437
Islington 1,824 785 998 985
Kensington and Chelsea 1,115 390 560 766
Lambeth 966 466 436 368
Lewisham 723 370 445 506
Newham 1,306 439 407 577
Southwark 1,578 599 950 703
Tower Hamlets 747 589 523 543
Wandsworth 1,015 559 683 820
City of Westminster (excluding Hotel and Catering Jobcentre) 6,342 3,727 2,653 3,321
*Hotel and Catering Jobcentre 4,165 2,652 2,307 2,480
*While the Hotel and Catering Jobcentre is in the City of Westminster, vacancies held at that office will not necessarily be in that borough.