HL Deb 12 May 2004 vol 661 cc42-3WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Commission for Racial Equality was consulted before a decision was taken to reduce the amount of information provided by the Office for National Statistics about local labour market conditions for ethnic minorities and non-Britons; and [HL2617]

Whether the decision by the Office for National Statistics to reduce the amount of information provided about local labour market conditions for ethnic minorities and non-Britons will make it more difficult for local authorities and other employers to ensure that their employment practices are not indirectly discriminatory against members of racial groups. [HL2618]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated 12 May 2004.

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the availability of labour market data for ethnic minority and non-British groups (HL2617, HL2618).

The availability of these statistics reduced after the longstanding joint arrangements between the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) ceased in 2003. The very important analyses have always been prepared after the main labour market statistical summaries. Since 2003, these main summaries have demanded more attention and this has led to delays in publishing the ethnic minority studies.

Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey data for 2002–03 were published on 28 April 2004, accompanied by an ONS News Release. ONS is preparing further analyses for later publication. These will include analyses at both national and local level for ethnic minorities, non-British and overseas born groups. I intend that this will meet the existing needs that we know of in full.

The ONS has been in contact with the Commission for Racial Equality and will discuss with it the possible content of some of the detailed tables and analyses that will subsequently be published.

In the meantime, users can continue to request more detailed analyses from the ONS's LFS Data Service. I recognise that this service has been hard pressed to respond quickly, and the delays last month of three weeks reflect this.