§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people were employed in the farming industry in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement about the unemployment rate among former farm workers.
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 1 December 19941: a) The number of people employed in the farming industry in the United Kingdom at June in each of the last five years is shown in the table:
Number of persons working on holdings in the United Kingdom— 1989 to 1994—farmers, growers and workers Year Number 1989 646300 1990 644,600 1991 630,500 1992 624,400 1993 622,300 19941 615,600 Notes:
(a) Source: Agricultural and Horticultural June census.
(b) Includes estimates for minor holdings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not for Scotland.
(c) In England and Wales figures exclude School children but include trainees employed under an official youth training scheme and paid at agricultural wages board rates or above. In Scotland and Northern Ireland school children and all trainees are excluded.
(d) Figures include farmers, growers, partners, directors, spouses, managers, regular and hired workers, seasonal and casual workers.
1 Provisional figures only.
The labour force survey conducted in spring 1994—this is a sample survey of 65,000 private households in the United Kingdom carried out every spring since 1984—showed that there are approximately 31,000 unemployed people in the United Kingdom who recorded their last occupation as farming. This represents an unemployment rate for this socio-economic grouping of 7 per cent., which is significantly lower than the equivalent rate for all socio-economic groupings in the United Kingdom which at this time was 10 per cent.