§ Ms AthertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate has been made of the number of self-employed workers in the UK in the last five years; and what proportion of workers this represents in each year; [104437]
(2) what estimate has been made of the number of employees in supermarkets who are self-employed. [104438]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Ms Atherton, dated 24 March 2003:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about total self-employed people and those working in supermarkets.The attached table gives the number and percentage of self-employed people in the United Kingdom for the three month period ending January for each of the last five years. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and are seasonally adjusted.Information on the number of self-employed people working in supermarkets is not available.
Self-employed United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted November to January Thousand Percentage1 1998–99 3,144 11.7 1999–2000 3,084 11.4 2000–01 3,064 11.2 2001–02 3,078 11.2 2002–03 3,184 11.4 1 Self employed as a percentage of all in employment Note:
These Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are Seasonally Adjusted (SA) and have been interim adjusted to take account of the recent Census 2001 results.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey