asked the Minister of Labour how many young people are on the books of the Ashington Junior Labour Exchange; what action is being taken to assist them in finding employment; and whether he will make a statement.

Twenty-nine boys and 23 girls were registered as unemployed at Ashington Youth Employment Office on 11th December, 1961. The youth employment officer is making every effort to place them in suitable employment.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps are being taken to stimulate the policy of apprenticeship, especially by means of local consultations.

A principal function of the Youth Employment Service is to stimulate apprenticeship and the local youth employment committees throughout the country give much help in this task. The Industrial Training Council is continuing the valuable activities which have contributed greatly towards the substantial increase in apprenticeship this year and is now engaged in a special study of apprenticeship and training methods. Last June, the Council set up regional committees which contain representatives of both sides of industry and other interests, and are serviced by officers of my Department. Their purpose is to keep the regional situation under regular review, to advise the Council thereon and to sponsor local initiatives.

Does the Minister realise that, apart from the regional work which is being done—which is, of course, imporant—the key to the development of the apprenticeship system is local consultation? Further, is he aware of the work being quite successfully done in this respect by his Department in the Ashington area through personal contact between his own officers and local employers?

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for what he has said. I think he will agree that what we want is both local effort and the good offices of the Industrial Training Council working at national level. These two things combined will, I believe, help us to get some of the results we want.

We all welcome the increased number of apprenticeships this year, but does the Minister agree that next year there will be an even larger number of school leavers, at the peak of the bulge, as it were, and there is also a very important long-term problem in increasing the quantity and quality of apprenticeships? Has the right hon. Gentleman further plans for expanding the Industrial Training Council and its staff to cope with these problems over a longer period?

The hon. Gentleman is quite right to suggest that, although we, have done reasonably well this year, there is no possible room for complacency next year. I am in the closest touch with the I.T.C. and I am discussing the whole problem with the object of seeing that the efforts put into the job this year are carried forward with energy and efficiency next year.

asked the Minister of Labour how many workers were employed in the motor industry and other industries associated with it on 1st December, 1961.

The latest figures available are for the end of October. It is estimated that at that date there were 409,300 persons employed in manufacture of motor vehicles, parts and accessories.

Do not these figures show a substantial decline from the figures up to 1st December, 1960? In view of the fact that in the Midlands there are now 21,500 workers on short time, how can the Minister reconcile his plans for the expansion of the industry with a contraction in the number of workers?

One must keep a sense of proportion in this matter. It is true, as the hon. Gentleman says, that the figure I have given is 23,000 lower than the figure a year ago, but it must be remembered that the industry expanded very considerably between October, 1959, November, 1960, and the figure I gave in my Answer is still over 6,000 more than the number employed in October, 1959.

asked the Minister of Labour how many workers were employed in the motor cycle industry and other industries associated with it on 1st December, 1961.

The latest figures available are for the end of October. It is estimated that, at that date, there were 34,400 persons employed in the motor cycle, three-wheeled vehicle and pedal cycle industries.

Is this not another case of an industry in relative decline? Will the Minister apply his mind to the fact that certain restrictive practices exist in the motor cycle industry, one example of which is to be found in one of the major firms which now has a prospect of substantial redundancy before it but which is committed to a contract exclusively for French engines for a number of years to come, this being a condition of maintenance of its contract for the assembly of imported parts? Is not the essential problem in the motor cycle industry one of initiative in design on the part of manufacturers to revitalise this old and traditional industry?

The hon. Gentleman had an adjournment debate on this subject on 1st December, when he did, I think, express his views very strongly. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, in answer to that debate, explained that he felt that it was for the industry itself to put its own house in order, while indicating at the same time that the Government were prepared to help and co-operate in any way they can.

What initiative have the Government taken in order to inspire the industry to take the action which they have recommended?

What my hon. Friend said was that it was for the industry to take the initiative to put its own house in order, but he added that if it were prepared to do that the Government would do all they could to help.

asked the Minister of Labour how many of the 65 males employed by expanding firms in the Bishop Auckland constituency between November, 1960, and August, 1961, were employed immediately beforehand as miners or railway workers; and how many miners or railway workers became redundant in this constituency during that period.

Our local officers placed 66 males with these firms between November, 1960, and August, 1961. Of these, 14 were last employed in coal-mining and three in railways. I am informed that, in the same period, nine miners and no railway workers became redundant in the hon. Member's constituency.

While that sounds fairly reasonable, is the Minister not aware that the situation is very serious? Will he consult with his right hon. Friends the President of the Board of Trade, the Minister of Housing and Local Government, and the Minister of Transport to see whether it is not necessary to stimulate public works in the area by having an expanding programme of council house building, road building and reclamation of derelict land, because there is considerable unemployment in the area?

I am very much aware of the unemployment problem in the area. But, of course, the whole of south-west Durham benefits from the facilities of the Local Employment Act. It follows that my right hon. Friend and his right hon. Friends are in fact in constant consultation on this matter. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to know that there are about 1,300 jobs in prospect in the development district, of which about 840 are in his constituency.

asked the Minister of Labour what is his forecast of the number of miners and railway workers likely to become redundant during the next 12 months in the Bishop Auckland constituency.

It is not possible to forecast precisely the number of coalmining redundancies in the next 12 months until the local negotiations with the union are complete. I understand that there may be a very small reduction in railway posts, but it is hoped that most of the men will be offered alternative employment.

Does that mean that the hon. Gentleman is having discussions with the director of the local division of the Coal Board and the National Union of Mineworkers and that these discussions are proceeding on a satisfactory basis?

The local negotiations are between the Coal Board and the union. We are kept informed of all prospects and, indeed, of all events as they happen, and we shall certainly do our best to see that anybody who may by chance become redundant gets a chance of an alternative job.

asked the Minister of Labour what increase has taken place in the employment of skilled engineers in the engineering and shipbuilding industries from 1957 to the latest available date.

In the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industry, workers in skilled engineering trades numbered 61,824 at the end of August, 1961, compared with 78,111 in August, 1957. Corresponding figures for the engineering industry are not available.

I am shocked to hear that there has been a decrease in the number of skilled engineers employed in the shipbuilding and engineering industries in the last two years. Is this not an extraordinary state of affairs at a time when the right hon. Gentleman's Department is trying to encourage an increase in the number of apprentices training for the engineering industry? What are we to make of a situation where there is a decrease in the number of skilled men being employed and at the same time we are trying to get more apprentices to go into these skilled occupations?

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that since 1957 the decline in world shipping and the increase in shipbuilding capacity abroad have resulted in a fall of activities and employment in the shipbuilding industry. I think that he will also be aware that, taking as a whole the shipbuilding industry and all the workers employed in it, this is an ageing industry. Rather than adopting a defeatist attitude in suggesting that the situation is continually declining, it is very necessary to get a new entry of young people to keep the industry going.

That is not a satisfactory answer. We know that there has been a decline in the shipbuilding industry, but surely the function of the Minister of Labour is to help to redeploy the skilled labour out of a declining industry into an expanding one? I am asking a question in respect of the engineering industry. Evidently there has been no redeployment because in the two industries taken together there has been a decline.

That is a slightly different question. We do not want to assume that the decline that has been going on in the shipbuilding industry will continue. I hope that the industry will have a great future, but unless it is prepared to take a proper proportion of young apprentices it will not have a future.

Why is not my right hon. Friend more straightforward? Surely the reason for the decline in the shipbuilding industry is the number of demarcation disputes which there have been in the shipbuilding industry. If one looks at what is happening in Ireland one would be gravely concerned about the future of the shipbuilding industry.

I am being entirely straightforward, but I do not accept that the shipbuilding industry has no future prospects.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he proposes taking to meet the threatened decline in employment in the shipbuilding industry on the Clyde.

I understand that recently shipbuilders on the Clyde have been more successful in obtaining some orders and I hope that this will arrest the decline in shipbuilding employment for the immediate future. There is much that the industry itself can do in the field of labour relations and utilisation of labour to improve its competitive ability, and at a conference I held with both sides of the industry on 14th December it was decided to set up a joint working party under an official of my Department to concert practical measures to this end.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that we on the Clyde are getting sick of this continual propagation of the idea that there is delay, through bad industrial relations and lost man-hours through strikes? Messrs. John Brown have just launched a passenger ship and, from its inception, not one man-hour has been lost.

This is the time for Questions and not for an asserted proposition.

This is important in view of what the hon. Member for Harwich (Mr. Ridsdale) said. We on Clydeside have very good industrial relations in the shipbuilding industry. Will the Minister see that he and his Government take steps immediately to try to put some pep into the Clyde shipbuilding industry in order to enable shipbuilding interests on the Clyde to keep their teams of workers together?

I should be the last to wish to denigrate the shipbuilding industry, but my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich (Mr. Ridsdale) is perfectly right in part of his supplementary question to call attention to the fact that there are demarcation issues. The hon. Gentleman knows that, taking the shipbuilding industry as a whole, there are more unofficial strikes in that industry than in most. We have to face the fact that these things are not insoluble and we have to do something about it.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the average interval between visits by factory inspectors to premises covered by the Factories Acts; how this compares with the frequency of inspection recommended to him recently by the Trades Union Congress; how it compares with the standards laid down by the International Labour Organisation; and whether he will make a substantial increase in the Factory Inspectorate in view of the increasing number of industrial accidents.

The frequency of visits varies according to the requirements of different premises. Factories are thoroughly inspected at least once every four years. Many of them, including the larger ones and those with special hazards, are visited much more frequently. The Trades Union Congress recommend that every factory be inspected at least once every two years, with yearly visits as a long-term aim. The standard laid down in International Labour Convention No. 81 is that workplaces shall be inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions. The Factory Inspectorate is to be increased in size and I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham (Mr. R. Carr) on 11th December.

Is the Minister aware that we welcome the increase in the size of the Factory Inspectorate which has been urged on him from this side of the House for many years? Will he not set an objective for frequency of visits to factories closer to that urged on him by the T.U.C. and contained in I.L.O. resolutions going back over thirty or forty years? Does he not agree that the rise in industrial accidents is still very unsatisfactory and can be partly traced to an insufficient frequency of inspections?

I think the hon. Gentleman has in mind that the I.L.O. in 1923 recommended annual inspection where possible. Since then there has been a lot of modern thinking. In 1947 the I.L.O. Convention No. 81, to which I have referred, did not follow that line of thought. Of course, inspection is very important, but I think the hon. Gentleman will agree that a greater safety consciousness throughout industry is now really the most important target at which we should aim.

Does the right hon. Gentleman remember, however, that as recently as September he gave a Press conference and said that in his view an increase in the Factory Inspectorate is not the best way, or the correct way, of avoiding increases in accidents from which we have suffered in the last year? Will he bear in mind that there are only 320 inspectors in posts who actually inspect and about 300,000 places where inspection has to take place and that the Inspectorate, which is so valuable, ought to be at least double.

The hon. Gentleman will not mind if I correct him. What I said was that inspection was not the only way to ensure that greater safety precautions were taken. I said that 65 per cent. of all accidents reported in 1960 were caused through men falling down and stumbling, bad handling, and so on. These are matters of common sense and normal safety consciousness. I feel that a real drive should be made to get greater safety consciousness on the part of all engaged in industry.

asked the Minister of Labour what notifications he has received since 6th December, 1961, of increased wage awards.

None have been notified to me, but I am aware of two important increases which have been agreed since 6th December.

Is not my right hon. Friend aware that comparatively recently increases have been given by three out of the four major oil producers? Is it not difficult for private industry to implement the Chancellor of the Exchequer's wage pause policy when the British Petroleum Co. Ltd., in which the Government have a majority holding, is not prepared to implement it?

My hon. Friend knows that the Government, like their predecessors, do not interfere in the ordinary administration of the company as a commercial concern. I understand that the company felt that it was, in some degree, committed to an increase before the Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement on the pause.

Can the Minister say how many notifications of dividend increases he has had in the same period?

That is a different question.

asked the Minister of Labour which region had the least number of vacancies remaining unfilled on 8th November; what was its total unemployment figure; and if he will state for this region and for the Northern Region both the actual and the normal seasonal changes in the number of unfilled vacancies compared with the previous month for each of the last 12 months.

Northern Region, where there were 7,053 unfilled vacancies. The total number registered as unemployed on 13th November was 38,299. As the answer to the second part of the Question contains a table of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The Minister will know that the number of unfilled vacancies in the Northern Region is the lowest in the country. Is he aware that the percentage of jobs to unemployed is also the lowest in the country? Is he further aware that this represents five unemployed men chasing one job? In view of those statistics which he has given me in previous Questions, does not the Minister agree that there should be vigorous action on his part and on the part of the President of the Board of Trade to ensure that something is done immediately in the North-East to curb the trend which is emerging?

I quite agree that the situation in the Northern Region is serious, but, as I told the hon. Gentleman last week, the unemployment rate in Scotland is higher—3·2 per cent. against 2·9 per cent. in the Northern Region. Of course, Scotland's working population is almost double. I do not deny that both in Scotland and in the Northern Region there are approximately 100 people wholly unemployed with only about 20 unfilled vacancies. That is why my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and myself are doing all we can to ensure that new jobs are provided.

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he is taking to prevent transitional unemployment extending beyond a few days among the employees of the Whitworth-Gloster Aircraft Company's factory at Gloucester, which is closing down.

Our local officers are registering those affected before they are discharged and will do all they can to find them alternative employment as quickly as possible.

In view of the Parliamentary Secretary's statement that his local officers will do all they can to find other employment for these people, may I ask him whether he is prepared to go further and encourage the employers concerned to delay giving redundancy notices until other employment has been found for them?

With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I think that this is a difficulty which is as broad as it is long. If there is delay in registering people who may be redundant, then we stand to be attacked because we have delayed registering them for work. Either way, there may be some small difficulties. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will bear in mind that the level of unemployment throughout the whole region is very low.

asked the Minister of Labour how many vacancies existed in the Gloucester area at the latest available date in each of the following four categories, namely, skilled sheet-metal workers, skilled pattern makers, unskilled men over 55 years of age, and unskilled women over 45 years of age.

On 6th December, the Gloucester Employment Exchange held 15 unfilled vacancies for sheet-metal workers, but none for pattern makers. There were 66 vacancies for men and 14 for women for unskilled work, but these vacancies were not analysed by age groups.

Is it not absolutely clear from the figures that the Parliamentary Secretary has just given that there is no possibility whatsoever of there being adequate vacancies for those in these categories who are shortly to be declared redundant at the Whitworth-Gloucester Aircraft Company? Therefore, what steps is the hon. Gentleman prepared to take to reduce this transitional unemployment to the minimum?

I do not think that what the hon. Gentleman said follows. He might like to have a few more figures. There were 1,510 unfilled vacancies for men and 787 unfilled vacancies for women in Gloucester and the adjacent areas of Cheltenham, Stroud and the Forest of Dean at 6th December. In addition, there is a considerable number of jobs in prospect in the area. The local unemployment rate in Gloucester is 1·3 per cent., in Cheltenham 1·2 per cent., in Stroud ·8 per cent., and in the Forest of Dean 1·9 per cent.

asked the Minister of Labour what is the total strength of the Factory Inspectorate in Wales; and whether any additions are being considered in view of the increasing number of industrial accidents.

There are 20 inspectors stationed in Wales. I recently announced an increase in the size of the Factory Inspectorate as a whole. The needs of Wales will be taken into account in allocating the additional staff as it becomes available.

I appreciate that Answer, but is the Minister aware that works safety committees have played a most effective part in the cause of accident prevention? Having regard to his emphasis earlier on the need for safety consciousness, does not he consider that the Factory Inspectorate should play a greater part in encouraging the establishment of these committees in many factories where they do not at present exist?

I agree with what the hon. Gentleman says about the importance of works safety committees. Certainly my inspectors will do all that they can to encourage their formation and the greater working efficiency of some. I am having discussions with both sides of industry on this problem. I should like the hon. Gentleman's support and that of his hon. Friends as well as of my hon. Friends to see what we can do to promote safety consciousness.

asked the Minister of Labour what progress has been made in finding suitable employment and training opportunities for the increasing numbers of school leavers.

In the first nine months of this year 491,000 boys and girls entered employment—31,000 more than in the same period last year. Of the boys, 98,000, or 38·4 per cent., went into apprenticeship or learnerships. The corresponding figure last year was 87,000 or 36 per cent. This shows an increase of nearly 13 per cent. over last year.

While we all agree with what my right hon. Friend said, that some progress has been made, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether he does not think that, next year being a really crucial year, we should approach this matter of the bulge not as a problem but rather as an opportunity which will not he repeated? Will he continue to press for as much progress as possible next year?

I agree with what my hon. Friend says. I intend to continue our policy, which has brought tangible results this year, of impressing on industry the real opportunity that the bulge offers for expanding its skilled labour force.

Can the Minister say whether the increase of 13 per cent. is evenly divided over the country as a whole? As he said earlier, we in Scotland have a higher rate of unemployment than anywhere in the British Isles. What opportunities will there be for work, particularly for apprenticeships for our young lads, when we have the bulge next year?

I should be delighted to give the hon. Lady a break-down into regional figures if she would be good enough to table a Question.

asked the Minister of Labour why a new sub-employment exchange has been opened at Church Hall, Common Lane, Birmingham, 8, which is only 100 yards from the existing main employment exchange.

Because of the present number of temporarily stopped workers, it has been found necessary to provide these additional premises for the time being.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether this is a permanent arrangement? As I understand, the temporary arrangement which has been used at periods of great short-time working is now being put on a permanent basis and this is causing grave local concern about the prospects in the three factories in the area concerned.

Perhaps the hon. Member would like to have a further look at the Answer which I have given him. I must stress that this move was taken to meet current needs only.

It was temporary?

Yes, temporary.

asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed persons of either sex, respectively, in the area covered by the Easington Parliamentary constituency.

The numbers were 1,616 males and 593 females at 11th December.

Is the Minister aware that, in spite of my repeated requests over a period of years, this area appears to be more neglected than any other part of the County of Durham? Can he explain the reason why? Can I have an assurance that something will be done in the near future to provide employment for at least part of those who are unemployed?

I hope the right hon. Gentleman will accept the assurance that this area has not been singled out for neglect. There are 500 jobs in prospect at Houghton-le-Spring, and the right hon. Gentleman will be aware of the Tube Investment Company's large project at Washington.

I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for his reply, but may I have details of where the 500 jobs are in prospect so that if I am asked questions in my constituency, I can furnish a satisfactory reply?

Certainly, if the right hon. Gentleman would either care to put down a Question on the matter or, perhaps, come and see me.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will make a statement on the studies carried out in his Department on the differential training levy which operates in France; and whether he has any plans to introduce a similar scheme in this country.

I am making a close study of this complex question, but I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

Can the Minister give the House any idea when he will make a statement? May I remind him of his replies to an earlier Question about the need for permanent improvement in apprenticeship training? Is he aware that one of the problems is not so much of the firm which gives no training, but of the firm which poaches skilled workers who have been trained elsewhere? Have not the French Government had a scheme for some years which has met the problem better than any alternative that we know of?

As I told the hon. Member in July, these are far-reaching and important issues which will need considerable care and attention before any decisions can be announced. I cannot give any guarantee about when I can make an announcement on the matter. Meanwhile, we should not decry our own system too much.

asked the Minister of Labour the total numbers of men, women, boys and girls signing the register of unemployed up to the latest convenient date in the county borough of St. Helens, Lancashire; and what special steps he is taking to provide jobs for these people.

On 11th December there were 765 men, 894 women, 14 boys and 3 girls registered at St. Helens Employment Exchange and Youth Employment Office. Our local officers are making every effort to find them suitable employment.

What special efforts are being made to give the young people a training in industry for apprenticeships or in the professions? If this is not done they will merely join the ranks of the also-rans. Will the Parliamentary Secretary consider the older people who probably have been unemployed for many months or, in some cases, even for years? Will his Department consider increasing unemployment benefit for these people?

The second part of that supplementary question is not one for me. In reply to the first part concerning opportunities for young people, the hon. Member will have seen replies given on this subject by my right hon. Friend. We are very conscious of the need to increase training facilities for young people wherever they may be.

asked the Minister of Labour if he will give an estimate of the number of workers who will lose their jobs in the glass industry in St. Helens, Lancashire, under the present scheme for the reorganisation of the industry.

I am not aware of any general reorganisation scheme for the glass industry. If the hon. Member is referring to a recently announced redundancy by Pilkington Bros., I understand that the number affected will be 238.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary and his right hon. Friend consult the President of the Board of Trade with a view to doing everything in their power to encourage industrialists to take work into areas like St. Helens, because this great county borough could serve as an employing centre for other areas surrounding the perimeter of the borough?

As the hon. Member might expect. I have considerable sympathy with the problems of Lancashire in a personal sense. The unemployment rate in St. Helens is 2·8 per cent., which is below the level set for the immediate operation of the Local Employment Act. None the less, the hon. Member will be aware of the substantial new industries going into Merseyside and north of the Mersey.

asked the Minister of Labour how many persons were unemployed in Sunderland at the latest available date; and how this compares with the figure for the previous month.

There were 3,848 people unemployed in the Sunderland area on 11th December, compared with 3,923 on 13th November, 1961.

In view of this persistent high level of unemployment, can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether he was consulted by the President of the Board of Trade before he made his statement the other day? Will the hon. Gentleman call the President's attention to these figures and point out that we still obviously need Government assistance in Sunderland?

While I have sympathy with the hon. Member, he will, I am sure, appreciate that there are now 5,000 jobs in prospect for the area. [HON. MEMBERS: "In the pipeline."] Hon. Members opposite must not denigrate the pipeline. It is an essential part of the planning for which they continue to call.

Does not the hon. Gentleman know by experience that the efficiency of the pipeline is only about 20 per cent.?

If the hon. Member looks at the figures, he will see that his arithmetic is not right. If he cares to re-do his sums and come and see me, he and I can put our heads together or, perhaps, knock them together.

asked the Minister of Labour how many workers are employed in the preparation and manufacture of leather articles using sheepskins; and how long it takes to train a worker in the industry.

Separate employment figures are not available for workers engaged in these processes. The normal period of training for apprentices in the leather industry is five years.

In view of the fact that it takes so long to train these workers, will my hon. Friend consult the President of the Board of Trade to ensure that we do not have the same number of dumped Bulgarian sheepskins imported into this country, leading to unemployment in this rather highly skilled industry?

My hon. Friend will appreciate that that is entirely a matter for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, to whom, I believe, my hon. Friend has a Question down.