asked the Secretary of State for Employment what increase in strikes and consequential days lost has occurred since publication of the Industrial Relations Bill.

The Industrial Relations Bill was published on 3rd December, 1970. My Department's statistics of industrial stoppages show the following estimates for the six months ending 31st January, 1971:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what recent representations have been made to him by the Trades Union Congress on the subject of the Industrial Relations Bill; and what replies he has sent.

My hon. Friend will be aware that since last October the Trades Union Congress have declined to enter into consultations with me on the Industrial Relations Bill. I regret therefore that I have not received any representations from them regarding possible amendments to the Bill.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in view of the fact that, in addition to the engineers, the boilermakers have announced their intention of holding strikes against the Government's Industrial Relations Bill, he will now agree to meet the unions concerned to discuss ways and means of preventing these strikes.

I refer the hon. Member to the previous answer I gave to him on 18th February, 1971.— [Vol. 811, c. 540–541.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what further steps he is taking to reduce strikes in the vehicle industry; how many days were lost in the vehicle industry, compared with the average of days lost throughout the remainder of industry, during the 12 months to 31st January, 1971, or to the latest convenient period.

In the motor vehicle industry during 1970 about 2,200 working days were lost in industrial stoppages per 1,000 employees. The corresponding figure for the remainder of the economy was 440. These are provisional estimates. The Industrial Relations Bill will in time improve industrial relations in this as in other industries, but the prime responsibility must still lie with the managements and unions concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many people were unemployed in Sunderland at the latest available date;(2) how many men were employed in Sunderland at the latest available date; and how this figure compares with the figure for 12 months previous.

On 8th February the provisional numbers of persons registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Sunderland, Pallion and Southwick Employment Exchanges was 7,126. The estimated numbers of male employees in employment in areas covered by these exchanges at June, 1969, were 51,600, and at June, 1968, were 52,300. Estimates for June, 1970, will be available later in the year.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take steps to inform employers that, in the absence of agreement to the contrary, employees who are off work due lo illness or accident are entitled to their remuneration while their contracts of employment subsist.

No. It may not necessarily be true that under present law, employees have such an entitlement.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now announce the names of the new members of the Commission on Industrial Relations to replace Mr. Paynter and Mr. Allen.

I am not yet in a position to announce names of any new members of the Commission, but I certainly have the question of new appointments very much in mind.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the future of the Productivity Advisory Service.

The Manpower and Productivity Service will continue to offer an advisory service to industry and commerce in the field of industrial relations and related questions of labour utilisation.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the rundown of industry in North Kent during the past two years and the effect upon future employment prospects.

I regret that this information is not available in the form requested since the most recent local employment estimates were for mid-1969. However, I am aware, of redundancies in the cement and paper industries in North Kent. The reduction in employment in these two industries is only one of the factors which will affect future employment prospects in the area.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the numbers of unemployed in Great Britain in total and by region, respectively; and if he will make a statement.

The provisional total number registered as unemployed in Great Britain at 8th February was 721,143 which is 3·1 per cent. The information by region is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is now the level of unemployment; and how this compares with the highest and lowest figures for recent years, bearing in mind the change in the total number in employment.

At 8th February the provisional rate of the total numbers registered as unemployed in Great Britain was 3·1 per cent.The following table shows the highest and lowest rates in each year from 1965 to 1970:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the latest unemployment figures.

Between January and February the total number of persons registered as unemployed increased by 30,806 to 721,143 or 3·1 per cent. of all employees. This increase included 21,745 who were temporarily stopped from work.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the latest unadjusted unemployment figures; and by what amount these have risen since June, 1970.

The provisional total number of persons registered as unemployed in Great Britain at 8th February, 1971 was 721,143. This was 174,566 higher than the figure at 8th June, 1970.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current unemployment rate among specifically unskilled manual workers in each of the administrative regions.

Statistics for the group of unskilled manual workers, both in and out of employment, will be collected in the Census of Population which

asked the Secretary of of State for Employment if he will state, for the latest available date, the number of male and female workers unemployed, the unemployment percentage in each case, and the aggregate number of unemployed and the unemployment percentage that figure represents, for the Kilmarnock, Stewarton and Newmilns exchange areas; and for each of the exchange areas now listed as included in Special Development Areas in Scotland, England and Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the rate of unemployment and the level of job availability in the Solent area, in South-East England and in the country as a whole at the latest available date for each of the following categories, skilled workers, unskilled workers, and professional workers.

My Department does not calculate rates of unemployment for groups of occupations.There are no universally accepted definitions of skilled and unskilled workers. However, the following table shows the numbers registered as wholly unemployed and the numbers of notified vacancies remaining unfilled in certain occupational groups:

At 8th February, 1971, there were 1,639 persons, 1,232 male and 407 females registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Kilmarnock Employment Exchange, which includes Stewarton and Newmilns. The percentage rates of unemployment were 5·8 for males, 3·1 for females and 4·7 in total.The following table shows the provisional numbers registered as unemployed

at 8th February in each of the Employment Exchange areas which have been listed as Special Development Areas. Some of the rates of unemployment in these areas have been calculated and the remainder will be ready in a few days. A full list will be sent to the right hon. Member as soon as they are all available.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost to public funds of the Wilberforce Court of Inquiry.

Approximately £7,720 including printing costs. Sales of the Report are estimated to amount to £1,350.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of persons currently unemployed in the Yorkshire and Humberside region, and the number of young persons included in that total.

At 8th February there were 69,635 people, including 3,392 boys and girls, registered as unemployed

Information is not available for 18th June, 1970.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is now the weekly take-home pay, including overtime and before taxation and deductions, of each of the six most highly paid industrial groups or categories for which he keeps statistics.

The figures for gross earnings in the six most highly paid industrial groups range from £45·96 in printing and publishing of periodicals to £35·66 in air transport.Following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is in the Yorkshire and Humberside region. These figures are provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many men are unemployed in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region; what percentage rate of unemployment this represents; and how these figures compare with those obtaining at 18th June, 1970;(2) how many women are unemployed in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region; what percentage rate of unemployment this represents; and how these figures compare with those obtaining at 18th June, 1970.

Following is the information:satisfied with the current increase in management training; and if he will make a statement.

The Government are committed in The Queen's Speech to improving and extending the facilities for management training. My right hon. Friend is considering possible ways of doing this as part of the review of the whole of industrial training which he referred to in rely to the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Knox) on 23rd February.

asked the Secretary of State for the Employment whether he is satisfied that adeqate publicity is being given to the fact, that in the development and intermediate areas, employers who are prepared to train and continue to employ men or women aged 45 or over can now receive special grants from his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Not entirely, because in some places the issue of letters to individual employers was not completed before the postal strike. But the scheme has been publicised in the national and local Press, on local radio, and in all the Department's contacts with local organisations in the areas concerned. These measures will be repeated as necessary.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what conclusions he has come to as a result of his review of discrimination by certain firms in the employment of persons aged 45 years and over; and if he will make a statement.

I assume the hon. Member has in mind the reference in my rely on 26th November, 1970, about the need to keep under constant review the employment problems of people in the higher age groups. The new scheme of training grants introduced at the beginning of this year is designed to improve the employment prospects of the older unemployed in the development and intermediate areas where their difficulties are greatest. My Department is considering what more can be done to provide the retraining at higher level which may be needed to help older unemployed executives.—[Vol. 807, c. 607–608.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of working days lost through industrial disputes in January, 1971, and the comparable figure for January, 1970, giving in each case the figures for official stoppages.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many strikes were recorded, and how many days lost through these strikes in January, 1971; and how this compares with January, 1970.

Following is the information:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how strikes affected production in shipbuilding and ship-repairing in 1970 compared to other industries; and what percentage of disputes were due to demarcation.

During 1970, 396,000 working days were lost in the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industry in the United Kingdom in stoppages of work due to industrial disputes. The corresponding figure for the rest of the economy was 10,574,000. Seven per cent. of the stoppages in shipbuilding and ship-repairing in 1970 were due to disputes about demarcation. All these figures are provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of juveniles currently unemployed in the employment exchange areas within the Rother Valley constituency.

On 8th February, 1971, 182 young people under 18 were registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Rotherham and Rother Valley careers offices, which corresponds broadly to the Rother Valley constituency.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a White Paper setting out his policy for incomes.

I have no plans to do so.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it a condition of future loans to the Construction Industry Training Board that it pays interest to building contractors, covering the period between the due date of payment of the 1969–70 grants and the date upon which off-setting payments are due to be made by contractors for the year 1970–71.

I do not envisage the question arising of a future loan of the type recently made.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will consider exempting or allowing relatively small firms to opt out of the Shipbuilding Industry Training Board.

As my right hon. Friend said in reply to the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Knox) on 23rd February, he is looking for a significantly greater exemption of small firms from levy schemes.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of registered trades unions compared with a year ago; and how many mergers between unions have taken place during the last 12 months.

At the end of 1970 there were 326 registered trade unions of workers compared with 328 one year previously. During the calendar year 1970, 18 registered and non-registered trade unions of workers amalgamated or merged with other trade unions.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many married men, with gross weekly earnings, respectively, under £11, at least £11 but under £12, at least £12 but under £13, at least £13 but under £14, at least £14 but under £15, at least £15 but under £16, at least £16 but under £17, at least £17 but under £18, have, according to the latest information, wives in part-time and full-time employment; and what percentage of the total men in each category these figures represent.

The information requested is not available in my Department. However, I understand from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services that studies being made by his Department based on the Family Expenditure Survey may shortly provide some information of this kind.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that are required in the Northern Regional area to bring down the number of unemployed to the national average.

No formal estimate of this kind has been made, but the Government are well aware of the need to increase employment in the Northern Region.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make special provision for assisting redundant aircraft workers in the Manchester area in respect of new employment, and for immediate industrial training where appropriate.

I assume that the hon. Member is referring to Hawker Siddeley Aviation Ltd. Discussions between management and unions are still in progress but provisional plans have been made for giving every possible assistance to employees who become redundant including retraining where appropriate.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he intends to introduce legislation to amend or repeal the Redundancy Payments Act; and whether he will make a statement.

As my right hon. Friend has stated, we are reviewing the Scheme. But I have no further statement to make at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has yet issued notes of guidance to employers and unions on the implications of the Equal Pay (No. 2) Act; and whether he will place copies of the notes in the Vote Office.

My Department will be distributing copies of a booklet giving guidance on the Act to employers and employees in the near future. I will make arrangements for copies to be placed in the Vote Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make a statement on the policy of his Department for investigating the level of job availability for categories of unemployed workers to whom the workshy rules are applied.

No special investigations are made for this purpose. Nor is the level of job availability precisely defined in terms of registered unemployed or notified vacancies. My Department's officers judge the matter by their overall knowledge of what is happening in the local labour market. Where, in their opinion, there are good prospects for men seeking unskilled work they advise the Department of Health and Social Security accordingly.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest unemployment figure for the Bakewell, Matlock and Ashbourne areas of Derbyshire.

At 8th February the provisional number of persons registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Bakewell, Matlock and Ashbourne Employment Exchanges was 493.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the extent to which Her Majesty's Government are securing a progressive de-escalation of the level of pay settlements; and if he will make a statement.

Progress is being made but I shall not be satisfied until the level of settlements is generally much closer to the increase in national productivity so that pay increases do not inevitably give rise to price increases.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of epileptics who are currently unemployed.

The most recent figures are those from the last annual count in April, 1970 when 3,494 people with epilepsy were registered as unemployed.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will itemise the details which he takes into consideration when considering the general suitability and experience of candidates for appointment as chairmen and members of arbitration tribunals.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that he has sufficient staff to administer the changes affecting his Department under the proposed Immigration Bill; and if he will make a statement.

My Department will require some additional staff to administer its part of the proposed new system of immigration control.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure of unemployed in the Aberavon constituency; and how this compares with June, 1970, and February, 1970.

In the area covered by the Port Talbot, Porthcawl and Cymmer Employment Exchanges, which is similar to the Aberavon constituency, the total numbers registered as unemployed at February, 1971, June, 1970 and February, 1970, were 1,412, 1,122 and 1,321, respectively. The figure for February, 1971 is provisional.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) when the Robens Committee on safety and health was appointed; and what is the membership of the Committee;(2) how many times the Robens Committee on safety and health has met; and what organisations have so far given written or oral evidence to the Committee.

The Robens Committee on Safety and Health at Work was announced on 29th May, 1970. In addition to Lord Robens, its members are: Mr. G.H. Beeby, Miss Mervyn Pike, M.P., Mr. S.A. Robinson, Miss Anne Shaw, Sir Brian Windeyer, F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S., Professor J.C. Wood, C.B.E., LL.M.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the date on which he expects the Robens Committee on Safety and Health to report.

I cannot as yet give a firm date. This is an extremely complex field, but as I stated in the House on 12th February, the Committee is pressing ahead as fast as it can and is making good progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each of the exchange areas in Ayrshire the employers who have intimated to his Department closures and redundancies in the last three months, giving in each case the number of male and female workers involved and the effective date of the closure or redundancy.

Information supplied by individual employers is usually provided for official use only and I would not feel justified in publishing it. During the three months to 19th February, 1971 my Department was notified of redundancies in Ayrshire affecting 995 workers of whom 740 were men and 255 women. Following is an analysis of these figures by Employment Exchange areas:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT the percentage rate of total unemployment and male unemployment, and the number of persons involved, in the Chesterfield employment exchange area.

At 8th February, 1971, there were 2,109 persons, of whom 1,822 were males, registered as unemployed in the area covered by the Chesterfield Employment Exchange. The percentage rates of unemployment for the Chesterfield, Clay Cross, Eckington and Staveley travel-to-work area were 4·4 for males and females collectively and 5·7 for males alone. The figures are provisional. Percentage rates cannot be calculated for parts of travel-to-work areas.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of disablement resettlement officers per thousand of the population and per thousand of the disabled in the various regions and explain the reasons for the differences between one region and another.

The information is given in the accompanying table. The differences between regions are attributable to such factors as the varying incidence of disability among working people; the use made by disabled people of the resettlement services, which is influenced by the employment situation in the region; and the geographical distribution of industry and population within a region.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will review the method of assessing job-opportunity for the severely disabled by his disablement resettlement officers and other officials; and if he will consider introducing greater flexibility to suit the individual needs of such disabled persons.

The method of assessing job-opportunity for the severely disabled by disablement resettlement officers and other officials is already very flexible. All disabled people are assessed individually, according to their need.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will review the amount payable for equipment to assist the severely disabled to obtain employment and allow greater discretion to the officials responsible for making these grants.

My officials already have a considerable amount of discretion in determining the amounts payable for equipment under the special aids scheme to assist severely disabled people who are capable of remunerative employment. The hon. Member has recently drawn my attention to one particular aspect of the scheme and I am looking into this.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the status of disablement resettlement officers in his Department; what special training they receive; and what knowledge they are given of advanced technology to aid the disabled to be rehabilitated and found employment.

Disablement resettlement officers are executive officers of my Department. A small number of higher grade officers hold posts as Regional or Senior Disablement Resettlement Officers. Newly appointed officers receive at least 32 days special training. They are not trained in advanced technology but advice is available as required from the department's technical officers.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how disablement resettlement officers are informed of successful problem-solving in the care of the disabled; and what interchange of information takes place between disablement resettlement officers about general and specific examples of problem-solving.

During their training Disablement Resettlement Officers are given guidance on the solution of resettlement problems and particular cases of difficulty are discussed. There is also interchange of information between all Disablement Resettlement Officers on a regional basis and between Regional/Senior Disablement Resettlement Officers on a national basis.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of those wage-earners in full-time work but earning less than their supplementary benefit entitlement are disabled; and, of these, how many, respectively, are single, married without children, or with one, two, three, four or more children.

This information is not at present available. I understand however that information gathered by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in the course of the Survey of the Chronic Sick and Handicapped may soon make some estimates possible. The estimates would be of the number of families with a head who is both handicapped and in full-time work where the family income is below their supplemen- tary benefit level. Similar details may also be available for single persons. The estimates will relate to the numbers of handicapped persons in full-time work when the fieldwork for the Survey was undertaken in 1968–69.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present unemployment rate among persons registered disabled and how they are distributed between the administrative regions.

On 11th January, 1970, 12·2 per cent. of registered disabled persons were registered as unemployed. The following statement shows the distribution between regions:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange a meeting with the Confederation of British Industry to discuss methods of ensuring that employers fulfil their quota of disabled workers.

Approaches were made to the Confederation of British Industry at the end of 1969 about making more employment opportunities available to disabled people. The C.B.I. promised full co-operation and drew the attention of its constituent bodies to the problem. It is difficult to know what more they can do, but I hope shortly to approach other organisations to stimulate local initiatives by employers.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what discussions he has had with representatives of management and unions in private sector industry on the need to resist and avoid inflationary wage claims.

My right hon. Friend has had a number of discussions with representatives of the Confederation of British Industry, employers' organisations and large firms on the need to avoid inflationary settlements.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the public and private sector wage claims now in the pipeline and known to his Department.

Information is readily available only about major wage and salary claims affecting 20,000 or more workers. On this basis there are 21 outstanding claims affecting about 1·8 million workers in the public sector, the largest groups concerned being the railways, the Post Office and teachers. In the private sector there are 11 major claims affecting about 1·2 million workers; motor vehicle manufacture, clothing, textiles and agriculture and the retail trade are the main industries concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many new jobs have been created in Scotland in the last six months; how many have been lost; and what estimate has been made of the net change in the number of jobs up to the end of 1972.

My Department, as was the case under the Labour Administration, has no way of providing a complete record of jobs created and jobs lost. Employment prospects are dependent on prospects for output, and the hon. Member would not expect me to anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will seek powers to enable him to pay the bus fares of youths sent to seek employment by the youth employment officers.

Where employers are unwilling to reimburse travelling expenses, careers officers may make payments to disabled young people and to young people who make applications under the Training Allowances Scheme or the Resettlement Transfer Scheme. Other young people who may suffer hardship are in certain circumstances, able to receive payments from the Department of Health and Social Security under the Supplementary Benefits Scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made of the number of jobs likely to be lost in Scotland consequent on the decision of Rolls-Royce Limited to request the appointment of a receiver and manager.

No estimate can be made at present.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people registered as unemployed at the Aberbargoed, Blackwood and Crosskeys careers offices have taken advantage of the Training Allowances Scheme in each of the years 1965 to 1971.

A total of seven young people have been granted assistance under the Training Allowances Scheme during the period in question—one in 1965, two in 1966 and four in 1967. One young person applied in 1969 but subsequently withdrew the application.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a White Paper on manpower forecasting.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will place in the Library copies of the information which his Department distributes to employers in order that they may offer guidance to their employees on trade union membership.

My Department has issued no such information or guidance to employers, but the Industrial Relations Bill contains provision, in Clause 18, to require employers to issue their employees with a written statement of the rights of trade union membership which the Bill confers.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many technical and scientific personnel are unemployed and registered with his Department.

The only information readily available relates to those registered on the technical and scientific section of the Professional and Executive Register. On 2nd December, 1970, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 2,983 unemployed persons, 175 of whom were women, included in this section of the Register.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the Mr. Carter asked the Secretary of State number of men and women, both wage for Employment how many technical and earning and salaried, respectively, and in scientific personnel are unemployed and total, in employment on 1st February, 1971, or the latest date for which statistics are available; how these figures compare with the number of vacancies; and if he will tabulate in the

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of men and women, both wage earning and salaried, respectively, and in total, who were unemployed on 1st February, 1971, or the latest date for which statistics are available; and if he will tabulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the equivalent figures for each of the last six years, and for 1955 and 1960, indicating how the percentage of these in employment compared with those available for employment has changed.

Following is the information:OFFICIAL REPORT the equivalent figures for each of the last six years, ten years, and for 1955 and 1960, indicating how percentage employment has changes.

The following table shows the information in total, but separate figures are not available for wage earning and salaried workers:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is now the number of unemployed compared to vacancies in each region and sub-region; and if he will tabulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT how these figures compare with those for each of the last six years, and

The following table shows the information for regions. Of the information requested for sub-regions, the only figures available are the numbers registered as wholly unemployed from 1965.