§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the survey he is carrying out of different nationalities among unemployed non-white claimants; what consultations he had and with whom prior to deciding on such a survey; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonI refer the hon. Member to my reply to her question on 13 November 1981—[Vol. 12, c.203]. Information about the ethnic origin of unemployed people from the Commonwealth has been collected by the Department of Employment since 1963, and published regularly in the Employment Gazette. With the ending this year of compulsory registration in jobcentres it will no longer be possible to obtain the same information from these offices. Unemployment benefit offices seem to be the best available alternative source of such information. The pilot tests shortly to begin in 14 local offices are intended solely to establish the best way of continuing this important series of statistics. It will be made clear to both claimants and staff in the offices involved that cooperation in the tests is entirely voluntary and they have no bearing on entitlement to unemployment benefit.
These developments have been discussed with the Commission for Racial Equality and with the trade union representatives of the staff concerned.