HC Deb 19 March 2003 vol 401 cc814-5W
Mr. Donaldson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the current trends in(a) long-term and (b) youth unemployment in Northern Ireland. [103242]

Mr. Pearson

Latest estimates from the autumn 2002 Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicate that there were 18,000 persons long-term unemployed representing 41 per cent. of the total number of unemployed persons. The total long-term unemployed over the past five years has decreased by just over 40 per cent. from 31,000 in autumn 1997 to 18,000 in autumn 2002.

The youth unemployment latest estimates indicate that there were 13,000 persons aged 18–24 who were unemployed, with an associated unemployment rate of

£000
Year District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4 District 5 District 6 District 7 Total
(a)Housing improvements Capital:
1999–2000 1,779 2,157 1,852 2,658 1,469 1,383 1,922 13,220
2000–01 1,204 1,372 505 2,792 528 994 1,395 8,790
2001–02 1,725 1,618 1,250 1,173 790 798 938 8,292
2002–031 1,644 1,518 1,206 1,816 826 1,204 2,901 11,115
Total 6,352 6,665 4,813 8,439 3,613 4,379 7,156 41,417
Maintenance:
1999–2000 3,590 4,194 4,644 4,682 5,787 4,840 6,215 33,952
2000–01 3,041 6,609 4,116 3,788 4,893 4,671 5,811 32,929
2001–02 3,246 4,774 3,423 6,555 3,365 4,269 4,979 30,611
2002–031 3,300 5,265 3,915 4,418 4,434 4,866 4,375 30,573
Total 13,177 20,842 16,098 19,443 18,479 18,646 21,380 128,065
Grants
1999–2000 514 1,853 761 1,008 294 878 3,638 8,946
2000–01 839 2,180 1,083 925 520 1,365 3,860 10,772
2001–02 652 2,083 1,130 886 280 987 4,210 10,228
2002–031 982 1,791 821 561 324 1,662 3,496 9,637
Total 2,987 7,907 3,795 3,380 1,418 4,892 15,204 39,583
Grand total 22,516 35,414 24,706 31,262 23,510 27,917 43,740 209,065
(b)Urban renewal Newbuild:
1999–2000 114 10 596 2,100 106 95 29 3,050
2001–01 73 283 301 414 131 89 99 1,390
2001–02 73 174 96 70 356 175 21 965
2002–031 28 135 30 81 236 51 14 575
Total 288 602 1,023 2,665 829 410 163 5,980
Land and property spend:
1999–2000 1 3,789 678 843 1,893 2,690 227 10,121
2000–01 5 4,548 390 3,393 6,613 1,351 42 16,342
2001–02 3 9,249 132 796 4,471 1,856 1,059 17,566
2002–03' 0 2,737 45 2,182 1,915 1,834 351 9,064
Total 9 20,323 1,245 7,214 14,892 7,731 1,679 53,093
Grand total 297 20,925 2,268 9,879 15,721 8,141 1,842 59,073
1 To 12 March 2003