Parliamentary Questions - Written Replies

UNEMPLOYMENT: The total of black people unemployed is more than twice the national average, Department of Employment figures show. Some 102,000 or 25 per cent of black adults were jobless, Helen Jackson (Lab, Sheffield Hillsborough) was told by Patrick McLoughlin, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Employment.

(First Edition)

PALACES: Sir Alan Bailey, former permanent secretary to the Department of Transport, will chair the inquiry into fire protection at royal palaces following the Windsor Castle blaze, Peter Brooke, the heritage minister, announced. His team comprises Donald Inslal, an architect and planning consultant, and Philip Kilshaw of HM Fire Service Inspectorate. Their report will be published.

The Budget will be announced on 16 March, Tony Newton, Leader of the House, told MPs.