§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who took the decision to change the geographical basis of the monthly claimant count conducted by the Office for National Statistics; for what reasons the change took place with effect from April 1996; and if he will carry out back runs based on the 1981 census for each parliamentary constituency. [16777]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[holding answer 20 February 1997]The 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. Stephen Byers, dated 24 February 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to your recent question on the decision to change the geographical basis of the monthly claimant count.The decision to move to a 1991 boundary basis for the production of small area claimant count unemployment data was made by the ONS in line with its policy of providing the most up-to-date and relevant information available.A full description of the reasons for the change and the effect of the move can be found in Labour Market Trends for July 1996, pages 311–328.The ONS is currently assessing the feasibility of providing data from the claimant count for current Parliamentary Constituencies based on boundaries existing at the 1981 Census of Population.