§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many quqlified nurses are currently registered as unemployed and seeking work(a) in England and (b) North Shropshire. [29970]
§ Mrs. LiddellI have been asked to reply.
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. Owen Paterson, dated 18 February 1998:
I have been asked to reply, as Director of the Office for National Statistics, to your recent question on how many qualified nurses are registered as unemployed and seeking work.The information you have requested can only be derived from the monthly claimant count of people claiming unemployment-related benefits (i.e. Jobseekers Allowance or National Insurance credits). Essentially, all people who were claiming these benefits on the count day are counted.The information requested is given in the table:
Number of nurses claiming unemployment benefit by occupation, January 1998 1Sought 2Usual North Shropshire PC 0 0 England 1,180 1,308 1 Sought occupation: a claimant has to specify the occupation in which they are seeking work. 2 Usual occupation: a claimant does not have to provide details of usual or previous occupation.