§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 10 December 1997,Official Report, column 573, what steps he plans to increase the accuracy of the method used to calculate unemployment statistics. [21140]
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§ Mrs. LiddellThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Norman Baker, dated 16 December 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply, as Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to your recent question asking what steps he plans to take to increase the accuracy of the method used to calculate unemployment statistics.The ONS has recently been reviewing the future presentation and dissemination of labour market statistics. Wide-ranging public consultation was initiated in the May 1997 issue of Labour Market Trends, and a summary of responses was published in the October issue. Responses to the consultation indicated strong support for:—ONS plans to provide an Integrated First Release covering all Labour Market Statistics;—the proposals to give increased prominence to data from the Labour Force Survey.It is taking longer than hoped to put together a comprehensive package which meets users' needs. An announcement about the future of labour market statistics will be made in early 1998.