asked the Paymaster General what is the net loss in manufacturing jobs on Merseyside since June 1979.

The precise information requested is not available. The Departments' statistics for the county monitor only net changes in employment between census dates.The available figures are from the June 1978 and the September 1981 censuses of employment. In that period there was a net loss of 45,600 employees employed in manufacturing industries as defined according to the standard industrial classification 1968 in the county of Merseyside. The September 1984 census estimates for counties are not yet available. Between censuses, employment statistics are based on small scale sample enquiries which cannot produce reliable results for areas smaller than the standard economic regions.