asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what resources are available to assist employers in the home counties to recruit and relocate persons from areas of high unemployment elsewhere.

The Government are discussing with employers ways of meeting the difficulties which may arise because of regional house price differences. A new "job movers" scheme will allow housing associations to provide flat sharing, at relatively low rents, using a mixture of public and private sector finance. Priority in such schemes will be given to young single people moving to an area to take up employment. People wishing to move to the southeast and become home owners will be helped by provisions in the recent Housing and Planning Act which are designed to help make shared ownership schemes more widely available.