§ Mr. Frank Fieldasked the Paymaster General if he will specify the average unemployment rate during 1984 and 1985 in each of the 10 local authority areas with the highest average unemployment rates in the United Kingdom for the years specified.
§ Mr. LangThe following table shows, for 1984 and 1985, the 10 counties with the highest average unemployment rates. Unemployment rates are not calculated for local authority areas smaller than counties, or regions in Scotland.
416W
County Average unemployment rate 1984 Cleveland 22.5 Merseyside 20.7 Tyne and Wear 19.4 Mid Glamorgan 18.4 Durham 18.3 Strathclyde Region 18.3 Clwyd 17.5 Gwynedd 17.1 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 16.7 South Yorkshire 16.6 Gwent 16.6 West Midlands 16.5 1985 Cleveland 22.7 Merseyside 21.0 Tyne and Wear 20.1 Mid Glamorgan 18.9 Durham 18.8 Strathclyde Region 18.7 Gwynedd 18.4 Clwyd 18.2 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 17.8 Dyfed 17.6 South Yorkshire 17.5 Gwent 17.1
§ Mr. Winnickasked the Paymaster General what was the number of those unemployed for 12 months and more in May 1979; what is the current number; and what has been the percentage increase.
§ Mr. LangThe following information is in the Library. On 10 April 1986, the latest date for which an analysis of unemployment by duration is available, the number of claimants in the United Kingdom who had been unemployed for over 12 months was 1,356,509. The corresponding number of unemployed registrants in April 1979—not available for May 1979—was 366,711. The figures are not strictly comparable because of changes in the way the figures are collected.
§ Mr. Hancockasked the Paymaster General how many people were unemployed in each electoral division in Portsmouth, at the latest available date; and if he will show the percentage change from the same period three years ago.
§ Mr. LangThe following information is in the Library. Figures are given showing the numbers of unemployed claimants as at 8 May 1986 in the wards of the Portsmouth local authority district. Statistics of unemployment for electoral wards are derived from the new ward-based system and are available only from June 1983. Moreover, comparisons with May 1983 would have been affected by the 1983 Budget provisions, which means that certain older men, mainly aged 60 and over, no longer have to sign on to obtain national insurance credits or supplementary benefits, and by the change in the timing of compilation of unemploymemnt statistics in March 1986.
417W
Number Buckland 558 Cosham 617 Farlington 296 Fratton 583 Havelock 737 Highland 650
Number Kingston 494 Nelson 517 North End 698 Paulsgrove 1,122 Portsea 899 St. Jude 1,228 St. Mary and Guildhall 712 St. Simon 800 St. Thomas 1,072 Meredith 644