Job Vacancies (Hansard, 12 May 2004)

§ Mr. Borrow
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in South Ribble in(a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [171998]

§ Ruth Kelly
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Borrow, dated 12 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in South Kibble. (171998)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records, the number of unfilled vacancies notified to Jobcentres in Lancashire West Jobcentre Plus District was 4,730 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
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Figures are not available for South Ribble alone because the vacancies are allocated to local Jobcentres, not according to constituency boundaries, and because of the practice of notifying some vacancies centrally with one Jobcentre taking vacancies forothers in the same district. Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.

§ Mr. Benton
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in Bootle in(a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [172331]

§ Ruth Kelly
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Joe Benton, dated 12 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Bootle. (172331)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records, the number of unfilled vacancies in the Liverpool travel-to-work area was 4,403 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
Figures are not available for Bootle alone because the vacancies are allocated to local Jobcentres, not according to constituency boundaries, and because of the practice of notifying some vacancies centrally with one Jobcentre taking vacancies for others in the same district.
Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.