§ Mr. Marlowasked the Paymaster General what are the numbers of unemployed people aged under 25 years in each of the regions of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as a whole; what percentage they form of the total unemployed in each region; and what these percentage figures were at previous five-year intervals for the last 20 years.
§ Mr. LangThe following table gives the available information in respect of unemployed claimants as at 10 April 1986, which is in the Library.
Region Unemployed aged under 25 years Percentage of total unemployed South East 262,714 33.1 East Anglia 29,863 34.9 South West 70,414 33.8 West Midlands 122,730 35.2 East Midlands 72,483 35.2 Yorkshire and Humberside 119,837 37.4 North West 168,208 37.0 North 86,798 36.1 Wales 67,953 37.0 Scotland 135,717 38.1 Northern Ireland 47,116 37.3 UNITED KINGDOM 1,183,833 35.6
§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Paymaster General if he will publish a list showing the current waiting period for places on each course offered by the skillcentres in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Wakefield.
§ Mr. TrippierThe current waiting periods for places on each course offered by the skillcentre in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Wakefield are as follows:
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Course title Leeds skillcentre Bradford skillcentre Sheffield skillcentre Wakefield skillcentre Electrical maintenance 4 weeks General construction Immediate Group engineering †2 to 3 weeks 8 weeks Hairdressing 3 to 6 months Heavy vehicle repair and maintenance 6 months *Block entry Industrial design Immediate Instrument maintenance *Block entry *Block entry Light vehicle repair and maintenance 6 to 8 weeks Maintaining the modern office 6 to 8 weeks Motor vehicle body repair and spray painting 6 to 8 weeks New technology access 2 to 3 weeks 8 weeks Radio, TV and video repair and maintenance *Block entry Typewriter repair and maintenance *Block entry Vertical boring 6 months Welding and fabrication 3 months 6 to 8 weeks 8 weeks 3 to 4 months Woodcutting machining Immediate Work related skills and assessment 2 to 3 weeks 6 to 8 weeks 3 months * On block entry courses, where it is necessary for all trainees to enter training at the same time, recruitment usually begins 4 to 8 weeks before training is due to start. A short waiting list is kept in order that places vacated by trainees in the early stages of the course can be filled. Recruitment is usually one a year. † The skillcentre is currently recruiting an instructor for the fitting element of the course which is likely to increase the waiting period.
§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Paymaster General what is the latest estimate of the number of unemployed construction workers in (a) West Yorkshire, (b) Yorkshire and Humberside and (c) England as a whole.
§ Mr. LangThe labour force survey showed that in the spring of 1984 the numbers of people without a job and looking for work who had been employed at some time in the last three years with their last job in the construction industry were about 10,000 in West Yorkshire, 20,000 in Yorkshire and Humberside and 183,000 in England.
§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Paymaster General how many people were employed in manufacturing industry in the Yorkshire and Humberside region in each year since 1979.
§ Mr. LangThe information is as follows:
Employees in the manufacturing industries in the Yorkshire and Humberside region December of each year Year Number 1979 697,000 1980 627,000 1981 565,000 1982 535,000 1983 519,000 1984 517,000 *1985 510,000 * The latest date for which an estimate is available.
§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Paymaster General what has been the rate of redundancies per thousand employees for (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the south-east region and (c) the Yorkshire and Humberside region for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. LangThe available information, relating to confirmed redundancies, is given in the following table:142W
Redundancies* confirmed as due to occur per thousand employees in employment† Year Great Britain South-East Yorkshire and Humberside 1979 8 4 9 1980 22 9 26 1981 25 15 34 1982 19 11 25 1983 16 8 21 1984 11 6 15 1985 11 5 18 Notes:
* Redundancies confirmed by the Manpower Services Commission as due to occur and are based on following up employers' notifications of redundancies involving 10 or more workers under the Employment Protection Act 1975.
† Latest mid-year (June) estimates of employees in employment.
§ Mr. Masonasked the Paymaster General what have been the percentage increases in unemployment in Barnsley in each of the years since 1979.
§ Mr. LangThe following information is in the Library. Between April 1984 and April 1985 the number of unemployed claimants in the Barnsley local authority district increased by 6.5 per cent., and by 23.7 per cent. between April 1985 and April 1986. These comparisons are affected by the change in the timing of compilation of the unemployment statistics in March 1986. Statistics of unemployment for local areas are derived from the new ward-based system and are available only from June 1983.