§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Bolton, West constituency, the effects on Bolton, West of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [150608]
§ Mr. CabornThe Department does not maintain statistical information at constituency level.
My hon. Friend's constituents, like many others throughout Greater Manchester, will have benefited from my Department's employment rights policies, which include the national minimum wage, working time directive, part-time working regulations and improved maternity leave.
All wards in Bolton, West are eligible for the enterprise grant scheme. Halliwell and Blackrod are included in the revised assisted area map and are therefore also eligible for regional selective assistance.
In the north-west region, my Department's policies have contributed to growth in employment by 107,000 and a fall in unemployment by 63,000, and to reductions in youth unemployment by 75 per cent. and long-term unemployment by 54 per cent.