§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what data he has collated concerning the numbers of 18 to 25 year olds moving from the North to the South of England to seek employment; and if he will make a statement. [97572]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Peter Pike, dated 9 November 1999:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about young people moving from the North to the South of England to seek employment.The ONS does not collect information on the reasons why people move from one area of England to another. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) does collect information on people's region of residence and employment status, both current and a year ago. One might infer that people who had not been in employment and who had moved and were either employed or actively seeking and available for work a year later may have moved in order to seek employment. However, LFS estimates for the geographies and age group specified are below the LFS release threshold. This release threshold (10,000 for one quarter's LFS data) arises because, like any other sample survey, the LFS is subject to sampling variability. Numbers below the threshold are not considered sufficiently reliable to release.