HL Deb 16 February 2000 vol 609 cc151-2WA
Lord Inglewood

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of persons employed in agriculture in the United Kingdom in each of the last 12 years, showing separately the numbers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. [HL978]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from the Director of Social Statistics, Mr John Pallinger, dated 16 February 2000.

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on the number of people employed in agriculture. I am replying in Dr Holt's absence.

The attached table gives estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the main source of labour market data on individuals. It gives the number of people in employment in the agriculture, hunting and forestry industries in the UK and England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The data are for spring (March to May) quarters from 1988 to 1999 and are not seasonally adjusted.

People aged 16 or over are classed as in employment by the LFS if they have done at least one hour of paid work (as an employee or self-employed) in the week prior to their LFS interview or if they have a job that they are temporarily away from. People who do unpaid work in a family business and people on government-supported training and employment programmes are also included according to the International Labour Organisation convention.

People in employment in agriculture, hunting and forestry industries1 1988 to 1999 (not seasonally adjusted)
Thousands
United Kingdom England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
Spring 1988 581 446 39 69 28
Spring 1989 570 413 54 72 32
Spring 1990 554 426 34 62 32
Spring 1991 574 454 37 57 26
Spring 1992 544 399 46 67 31
Spring 19932 501 369 42 63 27
Spring 19942 515 370 49 66 31
Spring 1995 520 389 43 53 35
Spring 1996 498 376 37 54 31
Spring 1997 478 352 40 53 33
Spring 1998 445 321 46 44 33
Spring 1999 407 303 32 39 33
1 Based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC).
2SIC 92 replaced SIC 80 in winter 1993–94. For dates prior to winter 1993–94 the SIC 80 codes have been converted to SIC 92 codes to give reasonable comparisons not exact conversions. Because the conversions are not exact, there is a discontinuity in the table between spring 1993 and spring 1994.

Source:

Labour Force Survey.