§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people, and what proportion of the unemployed, left unemployment in each quarter since 1974 to(a) go into work and (b) leave the labour force altogether; and what figures he has for those in each category who had been unemployed for (i) 0 to six months, (ii) six to 12 months, (iii) one to two years and (iv) two years or more.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe information is not available in the form requested.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment, how many people were unemployed in each quarter since 1974 for(a) under a year, (b) between one year and two and (c) more than two years.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe information on claimant unemployment by duration is available on a quarterly basis from October 1983 and can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library. Information on ILO unemployment by duration can be obtained via the quantime labour force survey service in the Library and is available annually from spring 1984 until spring 1992 and quarterly thereafter.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons and what percentage of the work force have been unemployed for(a) under six months and (b) six to 12 months, (c) 12 to 24 months and (d) over 24 months, in Islwyn in each year since 1979 expressing the figure quarterly and breaking the data down by gender.
750W
§ Mr. OppenheimInformation on the unadjusted level of claimant unemployment by duration in each local authority district or parliamentary constituency is available from October 1983 onwards, for the months of January, April, July and October, and can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library. Claimant unemployment by duration cannot be calculated as a percentage of the work-force below the level of travel-to-work-areas.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people entered unemployment in each quarter since 1974; and what are the figures as a proportion of the labour force.
§ Mr. OppenheimUnadjusted figures for claimant unemployment flows in the United Kingdom are available monthly from June 1986 and can be obtained, together with work force denominators, from the NOMIS database in the Library. No information is available on ILO unemployment flows.
§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many and what percentage of people were unemployed in Islwyn in each quarter since 1979, breaking the data down by gender.
§ Mr. OppenheimInformation on the unadjusted level of claimant unemployment in each local authority district or parliamentary constituency is available from July 1983 and can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library. Claimant unemployment rates are not available below the level of travel-to-work areas.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what EU schemes or projects to assist areas of unemployment have benefited Coventry and the west midlands; how much the United Kingdom has benefited from these schemes over the last five years; and what assessment he has made of whether the formulae used by France, Germany and Holland over the last five years to calculate unemployment would have increased the amounts of money coming in the form of grants to Britain to help the unemployed.
§ Miss WiddecombeInformation on funding from the European social fund from 1990 to 1993 is set out in the table. It covers Warwickshire, the west midlands and Great Britain. It is not possible to produce comprehensive figures below county level except at disproportionate cost. The 1994 figures at regional and county level are not yet available.
In so far as unemployment levels are a factor in determining allocations from ESF, the European Commission uses the International Labour Organisation measure of unemployment published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities. This is an international standard across all European Union countries. Allocations to the UK are thus made on the same basis as those to every other member state.
751W
ESF funding in Warkwickshire, West Midlands and Great Britain, 1990–1993 £ pounds Year Warwickshire West Midlands Great Britain 1990 476,152 12,034,653 287,936,452 1991 489,787 22,878,238 361,623,462 1992 517,319 16,658,843 361,157,739 1993 614,524 24,795,153 494,417,781 Note:
(i) The figures cover payments made under all the EC Structural Fund Objectives but exclude payments made under Community Initiatives.
(ii) Warwickshire and West Midlands also benefitted over the period from ESF support for National Government training programmes, figures for which are included in the third column but not the first two.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the differences in calculating figures for unemployed people in the United Kingdom and in France, Germany and Holland; how Britain benefits by using a different calculation; and whether the use of a different formula for calculating the unemployed puts Britain at an advantage or disadvantage regarding assistance from European funds in the form of grants to fund schemes for unemployment.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe United Kingdom, in common with most other European Union countries produces two official measures of unemployment: an administratively based count and a labour force survey measure based on the internationally standard measure of unemployment defined by the International Labour Organisation and which forms the basis for international comparisons. Details of the measures of unemployment used by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Holland can be found in an article in the September 1992,Employment Gazette entitled, "How Unemployment is Measured in Different Countries".
The European Commission allocates money from the European social fund to member states using the ILO unemployment measure, published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities. This is an international standard across all EU countries. Allocations to the UK are, thus, made on the same basis as those to every other EU member state.