§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the levels of unemployment in rural areas and the measures which his Department is taking to reduce them.
§ Mr. LeeInformation on unemployment in rural areas is not readily available. However, an independent unemployment analysis carried out for the Development Commission for Rural England suggests that rural areas are sharing in the general drop in unemployment. The analysis estimated that the average unemployment rate in the Development Commission's rural development areas as a whole fell from 10.4 per cent. to 9.7 per cent. in the year to April 1987. During the same period, the unemployment rate nationally fell from 11.5 per cent. to 10.9 per cent. National unemployment has continued to fall since last April, and is now 9.1 per cent. These further falls can only have further benefited rural areas.
My Department is playing its part with other interested Departments to foster these improvements, by providing active encouragement and support to enterprise. We are providing support for local enterprise agencies, tourism, and small businesses through our small firms service and a range of marketing improvement services. In addition, the full range of our employment, enterprise and training measures are available to help unemployed people in rural areas.