§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the value and duration of the contract awarded to Research Services Ltd. Harrow, Middlesex to undertake the family and working lives survey. [23643]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 10 May 1995]: The cost of the working lives survey is £1,231,928, including VAT.
The contract for the project started on 14 October 1993 and is scheduled for completion at the end of September 1996.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements there are to sub-contract any of the interview work being carried out by Research Services Ltd. as part of the family and working lives survey to other organisations and colleges; and what are the minimal levels of qualifications required of the sub-contractors to undertake direct market research. [23645]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 10 May 1995]: Research Services Ltd. has not sub-contracted any of the interviewing for the family and working lives survey.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment by what method Research Services Ltd. was awarded by the contract to undertake the family and working lives survey; and how the contract was advertised. [23647]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 10 May 1995]: The contract for the family and working lives survey was awarded by competitive tender. Tenders were invited from four leading social research organisations.
The research was advertised in the Department's "Annual Report on Research" in 1992.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the sample size of the family and working lives survey being carried out by Research Services Ltd.; and how many people are being interviewed in(a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland. [23644]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 10 May 1995]: The survey aimed to interview 12,000 respondents and their 77W partners where appropriate. Fieldwork is sill in progress. To date 9,248 have been interviewed in England, 533 in Wales and 976 in Scotland.
The survey does not cover Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the sampling techniques, including the form of sampling and the sampling frame, being used by Research Services Ltd. in conducting the family and working lives survey. [26346]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 10 May 1955]: The sampling technique used for the survey was stratified random sampling of census enumeration districts selected with probability proportional to size. All EDs in mainland Britain were included. Islands, such as Jersey and the Scottish islands, were not included and neither was Northern Ireland. Addresses were drawn from the postcode address file with equal probability in the selected EDs. At each address, one adult was selected at random from all those eligible. If this person had a partner living in the same household, a shorter interview was conducted with the partner.