HL Deb 17 January 2000 vol 608 cc142-3WA
Baroness Anelay of St Johns

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the outcome of the assessment, carried out by the Office for National Statistics at the request of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, of the reasons for the fall in self-employed jobs in the tourist-related industries by 17,000 over the year to December 1998. [HL91]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that the number of self-employed jobs in the tourist-related industries in England fell by around 37,000 (22 per cent) in the year to December 1998, rather than the 17,000 quoted in a previous answer to a question (the mistake was caused by an error in typing). Over the same period, employee jobs in the tourism-related industries in England rose by 8,000 (1 per cent).

The Office for National Statistics identified that these changes were in the same direction as general trends in total employee and self-employment jobs in England, although the percentage fall in self-employed jobs in the tourism-related industries was much greater: total employee jobs increased by 1 per cent and total self-employed jobs fell by 2 per cent in the year to December 1998.

The fall in the number of self-employed jobs in the tourism-related industries might also be partially explained by the decrease in tourism expenditure by UK residents staying at least one night away in England in 1998 of slightly under £800 million compared to 1997.