§ Mr. SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has to explain the statistics collected by his Department showing an apparent sharp drop in unemployment in Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale between March and April, followed by an apparent sharp rise between June and July.
§ Mr. LeeI refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 24 October 1988,Official Report, column 49.
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of registered unemployed in the Greater London travel-to-work area for(a) the month of February and (b) July in each of the years 1982 to 1987.
§ Mr. Lee[holding answer 31 October 1988]: Direct comparisons of unemployment since 1982 are not possible because of changes in the coverage of the count and the revision of travel-to-work areas in 1984. Following is the information available which is also in the Library. The table shows the number of registered unemployed in the Greater London travel-to-work area since July 1983.
771W
Unemployment in Greater London travel-to-work area February July 1983 n/a 326,020 1984 345,051 348,419 1985 370,377 371,910
February July 1986 381,035 379,855 1987 361,848 335,655 n/a—not available.
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of registered unemployed in the Basildon travel-to-work area for(a) the month of February and (b) July in each of the years 1982 to 1987.
§ Mr. Lee[holding answer 31 October 1988]: Direct comparisons of unemployment since 1982 are not possible for the area requested because of changes in the coverage of the count. Following is the available information, which is also in the Library, for the Basildon local authority area.
Number of unemployed claimants in the Basildon local authority area Year February July 1983 8,113 1984 8,975 8,953 1985 9,515 8,920 1986 8,876 8,492 1987 8,406 7,080
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the total number of (a) persons in full-time employment, and (b) persons unemployed in (i) England and Wales, and (ii) the Basildon area for each of the years 1982 to 1987.
Mr. Lea[holding answer 31 October 1988]: The available information on employment is shown in the table:
Employees in employment1 2 in England and Wales Thousands Males Females All Full-time Full-time September 19811 11,111 10,453 4,769 June 1982 10,839 ␣ 4,679 June 1983 10,609 ␣ 4,623 June 1984 10,575 ␣ 4,721 September 19841 10,646 9,935 4,784 June 1985 10,657 ␣ 4,806 June 1986 10,607 ␣ 4,816 June 1987 10,618 ␣ 4,924 ␣Not available. 1 Separate figures for full-time male employees are only available for regions for census of employment dates. 2 Estimates of full-time self-employment are not available below national level. The latest available employee figures for the Basildon local authority district are from the September 1984 census of employment. There were then 49,600 employees in employment in the area, of which 37,500 were working fulltime. This compares with a total of 53,100 at September 1981 when the previous census of employment was taken of which 41,600 were in full-time employment. These figures exclude the self-employed and Her Majesty's forces.
Direct comparisons of unemployment since 1982 are not possible because of changes in the coverage in the count. Following is the available information, which is also in the Library.
772W
Annual average number of unemployed claimants Year England and Wales Basildon local authority 11983 2,612,493 8,368 1984 2,696,804 8,995 1985 2,796,466 8,993 1986 2,804,709 8,599 1987 2,481,146 7,233 1 Average of the seven months June to December 1983.