Oral Answers to Questions — Employment – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 16 Mawrth 1964.
Dr Dickson Mabon
, Greenock
12:00,
16 Mawrth 1964
asked the Minister of Labour what were the average monthly percentages of unemployed registered in the Greenock—Port Glasgow area in the years 1961, 1962, and 1963, respectively; and what is the average monthly figure so far for 1964.
Mr William Whitelaw
, Penrith and The Border
They were 7·4 per cent. for 1961, 7·2 per cent. for 1962, 8·5 per cent. for 1963 and 7·4 per cent. for January to February this year.
Dr Dickson Mabon
, Greenock
In view of the Government's failure to make progress with this very urgent problem, can the right hon. Gentleman inform the House of his intentions in relation to industrial retraining in the area? Is he aware that he is proposing to provide far too small a service for the number of unemployed, and we are completely at sea about the numbers to be introduced in these courses. Can the Minister give us some information on the subject?
Mr William Whitelaw
, Penrith and The Border
We shall certainly consider the kind of training to be provided at the new centre in Port Glasgow in relation to the jobs becoming available in the area. I will certainly look at that matter again for the hon. Member. Training will be provided in the engineering and building trades.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
