§ Mr. Roy HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the methods used in the compiling of employment statistics.
§ Miss WiddecombeA thorough review of the methods used in compiling employment statistics was conducted by the Department in 1988. As a result, my predecessors authorised a number of initiatives to improve the quality of the statistics. These included the introduction of a quarterly labour force survey in 1992; the first full census of employers for 12 years, in September this year; and the co-development with the Central Statistical Office of a new register of businesses which will be fully operational in 1995.