§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment on what date her Department became aware that British Coal proposed to give less than the statutory 90-day notice of redundancy to miners affected by the current round of proposed pit closures.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe Department received first notifications of the proposed redundancies from British 59W Coal on 15 October 1992. British Coal subsequently withdrew these notifications and has now submitted new ones.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is her Department's estimate of the number of women in the travel-to-work areas affected by the proposed pit closures; and what estimate she has made of the proportion who are employed by county or district local authorities.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe table shows the number of women, aged 16 years and over, resident in each of the travel-to-work areas affected by the proposed pit closures. The data are taken from the 1981 census of population and is the latest information available. Information relating to the numbers employed by local authorities is not available in the form requested.
Travel-to-work area Total females aged 16+ Alfreton and Ashfield 53,528 Barnsley 78,999 Chesterfield 68,869 Doncaster 101,609 Llanelli 42,524 Mansfield 61,755 Merthyr and Rhymney 63,106 Nottingham 282,727 Retford 19,033 Sheffield 248,953 Shotton, Flint and Rhyl 77,647 South Tyneside 65,225 Stoke 185,402 Sunderland 170,783 Wakefield and Dewsbury 103,692 Wigan and St. Helens 190,788 Source: OPCS, 1981 Census of Population.