asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people, male and female, were placed in employment by jobcentres in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the last month for which statistics are available.

Jobcentres in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell placed 394 people—249 males and 145 females—in the four-week period ending 11 March 1982, the latest date for which statistics are available.There is likely to have been a substantial number of people who found jobs in the area otherwise than through the Jobcentre. Nationally, the Manpower Services Commission has estimated from a 1977 survey that about a quarter of all placings are made through their offices.