National Survey of Time Use (Hansard, 4 February 2002)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from the Chief Statistician, Mr Len Cook, dated January 2000.

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question regarding what Her Majesty's Government intend to achieve by the "National Survey of Time Use" and the "People, Families and Communities Survey 2001". [HL2507]

Time is a valuable resource. Understanding how people use time is increasingly important in developing government policy and delivering public services, There are, however, no official statistics on this. The first UK Time Use Survey was therefore conducted in 2000–01. It was carried out on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, The Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health, the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions and the Economic and Social Research Council. The Survey was commissioned following an analysis of need, and is intended to support a wide range of policy issues. It will provide detailed statistical information on the breakdown of time use by the UK population on the UK policy issues. First results from the survey are due to be published in March.

Some examples of specific areas of use are: time taken to travel to work; time spent on voluntary tasks; activities of the unemployed; and the balance between work and leisure. The survey will provide a resource to call on over a number of years. The indications are that the use of time does change, but perhaps in a rather slow and evolutionary way.

The 2001 Home Office Citizenship Survey is the first Home Office funded survey into citizenship in England and Wales. It is another major policy tool, informing the development and implementation of policies on civil renewal, families, active communities and race relations. It is the only source of performance monitoring information for these policy areas.

The survey collects information on: race equality, including attitudes towards and experiences of various public services; voluntary and community activities, including reasons why people do not participate; and family networks and sources of parenting support.