§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what has been the estimated total number of redundancies in the United Kingdom since 1979.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe Department's main source of redundancy statistics is the Labour Force Survey. This survey gives the numbers of redundancies that took place in the three months prior to interview. The extent of the available information is given in the following table:
Redundancies (not seasonally adjusted): Labour Force Survey, Great Britain Numbers Spring 1989 142,000 Spring 1990 181,000 Spring 1991 388,000 Spring 1992 322,000 Summer 1992 278,000 Autumn 1992 310,000 Winter 1992 344,000 The main source of data prior to 1989, is the confirmed redundancy series. However, this series was discontinued because it proved to be an unreliable indicator of the actual number of redundancies taking place. The series was last published in tables 2.30 and 2.31 of the September 1992 Employment Gazette.