§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what conclusions he draws from the extent of correlation between the number of persons currently classified as unemployed and the number registered as available for work at a jobcentre; and what steps he intends to take to seek to ensure that only those genuinely seeking work are included in the unemployment figures.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe monthly unemployment figures relate to claimants to unemployment benefits (that is574W Unemployed benefit, supplementary allowances or national insurance credits) at unemployment benefit offices. Unemployed people are no longer required to register for work as a condition for receiving these benefits, and many unemployed claimants who do not register use the self-service facilities at jobcentres or other means of seeking work. Moreover, those registering at jobcentres include a number of people seeking a change of employment and others who are not claiming benefits. Conclusions about unemployment cannot therefore be drawn from the numbers currently registered at jobcentres. While it is a condition of receipt of unemployment benefits that a person be unemployed and capable and available for work, it is not possible to ensure that the monthly count of claimants includes only those actively seeking work. However, less frequent estimates of the numbers without jobs seeking work are available from the labour force survey based on household interviews, and these provide a check on the coverage of the monthly count. Provisional results for 1983, including both the number of claimants at unemployment benefit offices not actively seeking work and the number of non-claimants without jobs seeking work, were published in the August 1984 issue of the Employment Gazette. Similar comparisons for 1984 will be published shortly.