HC Deb 08 May 1981 vol 4 c161W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the cutbacks that have been made in his Department's collection of statistics since May 1979; and whether further cuts are now being proposed.

Mr. Waddington

The following reductions have been made in the collection of statistics by my Department since May 1979:

  1. (i) Cancellation of the censuses of employment for 1979 and 1980.
  2. (ii) Reduction of the sample by half in non-quarter months of the monthly survey of employment in manufacturing.
  3. (iii) Discontinuation of the April survey of earnings and hours of manual workers in selected industries except for the aerospace industry.
  4. (iv) Discontinuation of the January survey of earnings by occupation in the shipbuilding and chemicals industries.
  5. (v) Reduction in the scale of the October survey of earnings and hours of manual workers.
  6. (vi) Transfer of responsibility for the survey of occupations in the engineering industry to the Engineering Industry Training Board.

In addition, various other smaller reductions and improvements in efficiency have been made.

I am proposing to make further reductions in statistical work following a review of statistical services as part of the review of the Government statistical service co-ordinated by Sir Derek Rayner. These proposals have been published, for information and comment from users, in an action report 'Review of statistical services in Department of Employment and Manpower Services Commission' and include the following:

  1. (i) Reduction in frequency of the census of employment to every three years, with the possible need for a census in 1983, rather than 1984, to be reviewed at the end of 1982.
  2. (ii) Base the general system of unemployment statistics on unemployment benefit offices, with savings partly depending on whether voluntary registration is adopted as proposed in the report 'Payment of Benefits to Unemployed People'.
  3. (iii) Discontinuation of the wage rates index.
  4. (iv) Discontinuation of the June survey of earnings by occupation.
  5. (v) Discontinuation of the October survey of earnings of non-manual workers.
  6. (vi) Further reduction in the scale of the October survey of earnings and hours of manual workers.