HC Deb 06 December 1988 vol 143 cc138-9W
31. Mr. Nicholas Bennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations he has received following the publication of his Department's survey on long-term unemployed in London; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lee

I have not received any representations following the publication of the surveys of vacancies and longer-term unemployed people in London. The surveys reveal that although there are nearly 300,000 people unemployed in the capital there are also 150,000 vacancies and there is scope for a substantial reduction in unemployment.

At least a third of the vacancies on offer require no special qualifications or experience. But in any case many of London's longer-term unemployed have academic or vocational qualifications, including nearly one in 10 who have degrees. Many of them also have experience in management or skilled jobs. They therefore already have the background which employers are seeking.

A quarter of the longer-term unemployed people interviewed had not looked for work in the last week. Furthermore, many of those who said they were actively looking for a job did not do so using the methods which employers use to fill vacancies.

Some unemployed people in London clearly need the opportunity to retrain in up-to-date skills, and we now have employment training for them. But others need to look more intensively for the available jobs for which they are already well suited. The surveys also underline the importance of the measures the Government are taking to ensure that benefit is drawn only by those who are genuinely unemployed.