§ Mr. CanavanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the percentage increase in the number of unemployed people in the United Kingdom since May 1979.
§ Mr. LeeBetween May 1979 and 8 October 1987 the number of unemployed claimants, in the United Kingdom, excluding school leavers and adjusted for discontinuities and seasonality, increased by 135.7 per cent.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will publish figures for each year since 1974 showing unemployment totals both numerically and as a percentage of the total work force in each of the London boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham;
(2) if he will publish, for each year since the establishment of the London Docklands Development Corporation, unemployment totals both numerically and as a percentage of the total work force for that part of each of the London boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham that is in the London Docklands Development Corporation;
(3) if he will publish figures for each year since the establishment of the London Docklands Development Corporation showing unemployment totals both numerically and as a percentage of the total work force in the London Docklands Development Corporation.
§ Mr. LeeFollowing is the available information. The table shows the numbers of unemployed claimants in the London boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham, the areas within those boroughs which are also in the London docklands area, and the London docklands area as a whole, at September of each year since 1983. Unemployment rates are not calculated for areas smaller than travel-to-work areas. These figures are derived from the ward-based system and are available only from June 1983. The comparison is affected by the change in the compilation of the unemployment statistics in March 1986.
have been adopted by successive Governments, and which have not changed in recent years, require that all claimants to unemployed benefit must be available for work.