§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the organisations which are relevant to assisting employment in the regions who have moved out of the southern region to the north since 1979; with what impact on employment therein; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 24 February 1987, c. 205–6]: The only relevant information available to the Department relates to the movement of manufacturing units with more than 10 employees and is inevitably not comprehensive. Our records show at present that the number of moves from the south-east region to the northern region between 1979 and 1984 is so few that disclosure is prevented by the confidentiality restrictions of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947. Information is not available for the period since 1984.