§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when he last reviewed the way in which unemployment statistics are calculated; and if he will publish papers submitted to that review, together with its conclusions, in the Library; [831]
(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the unemployed claimant count as a measure of the scale of unemployment; [829]
(3) what plans he has to undertake a new survey measure of unemployment to supplement the claimant count; and if he will make a statement. [830]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[holding answer 28 October 1996]: I refer to the answer which the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave on 24 October to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Banks), Official Report, columns 5–6.
In August 1995, the director of the Office for National Statistics commissioned a technical study from Dr. David Steel, senior lecturer in the department of applied statistics at the university of Wollongong, Australia. This study looked into options for producing monthly statistics from a labour force survey including unemployment figures based on the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definition. Following public consultation on the results of this study, the director of the ONS has decided that there is insufficient demand to justify the monthly publication of LFS data within the agency's budget. I respect that decision.
A report on the consultation exercise will be given in the November 1996 edition of "Labour Market Trends." The latter will be published on 7 November and a copy will be held in the Library. A full set of the responses received during consultation will be available from ONS on application.
The former Select Committee on Employment investigated the validity of the current measures of unemployment in the course of its 1995–96 Session. The Government's response was sent to the successor committee, the Education and Employment Select Committee on 24 October. I understand that the latter will be placed in the Library by the Committee in due course. In his evidence to that Committee, the director of the ONS made it clear that he was satisfied that the claimant count is an accurate measure of those people claiming unemployment-related benefits and that it is particularly useful as a short-term indicator of turning points in the labour market.
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§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people, by region and gender, are undertaking(a) youth training and (b) training for work; and how many people, in each case, appear in the unemployed claimant count statistics. [1144]
§ Mrs. KnightThe information falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Ian McCartney, dated 7 November 1996:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the number of people undertaking Youth Training and Training for Work and whether they are included in the claimant unemployment statistics.The table below gives the latest readily available official figures. The figures relate to training starts and have been compiled from information provided by the Department for Education and Employment and the Scottish Office. It should be noted that a person can start on the same programme more than once - such cases will be counted in the figures as separate starts.More highly summarised information giving totals for England & Wales and for Scotland is published in the ONS monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release. The latter is available in the House of Commons Library.
Training starts for financial year 1995–96 by gender and region (000s) Youth training Training for work Government office region Male Female Male Female South East 16.5 15.3 12.5 6.2 London 14.5 12.6 19.3 12.4 Eastern 12.1 10.2 10.5 5.2 South West 12.8 10.5 13.4 5.4 West Midlands 13.9 12.9 17.3 7.6 East Midlands 13.1 12 11.9 4.7 Yorkshire and Humberside 16 14 19.2 7.3 Merseyside 6.7 6.0 10.7 4.2 North West 19.1 16.1 17.3 7.5 North East 10.4 8.9 14.5 5.1 England 135.1 118.5 146.7 65.7 Wales 9.6 7.8 8.5 3.6 Scotland 23.2 14.5 23.8 5.7 Participants on long-term work-related Government supported training programmes, such as Youth Training and Training for Work, are not included in the claimant count or in the ILO measure of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey and never have been. People on these schemes are either contributing directly to the production of goods and services, or are receiving training in the work place. Accordingly, they are treated as employed, which is consistent with the guidelines of the International Labour Office on the treatment of trainees.
§ Mr. HainTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the proportion of employed men in full-time work for each year since 1979. [1668]
§ Mrs. Knight[holding answer 5 November 1996]: The information falls within the responsibility of the chief 644W executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Peter Hain, dated 7 November 1996:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the proportion of men in full-time work since 1979.Information on the number of men in full-time employment is available only on a consistent annual basis from Spring 1984 and is published in Labour Force Survey Historical Supplement 1984–1996. Information showing the total number of men in employment is published in Table 1b and information showing the number of men in full-time employment in Table 2a. A copy of the publication is available in the House of Commons Library.