§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to ensure that the unemployment statistics represent the numbers available for and seeking work. [59313]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Caroline Flint, dated 16 November 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on unemployment statistics.The ONS measure of unemployment, derived from the Labour Force Survey, is defined on a consistent and internationally recognised basis set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and counts as unemployed people who are: out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous 4 weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight or; out of work and 359W have accepted a job which they are waiting to start in the next fortnight. The ILO methodology has been in use since 1984, and since April 1998 ILO unemployment estimates have been published every month.ILO unemployment, as measured by the LFS, has high sampling variability for areas below regional level and quarterly unemployment data is only published for larger local authorities. There is an annual Local Area Database (LAD) which, by combining four quarter's samples, provides more robust estimates down to Local Authority/Unitary Authority level. However, the estimates of ILO unemployment for many LAs/UAs are still below the ONS publication threshold of 6,000 for annual averages.ONS also publishes the monthly claimant count. The claimant count records the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits. These are currently the Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) and National Insurance credits, claimed at Employment Service local offices. People claiming JSA must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made. They enter into a Jobseeker's agreement setting out the action they will take to find work and to improve their prospects of finding employment.The claimant count is accurate down to very small geographic areas, such as postcode sectors and wards, from which aggregations such as Parliamentary Constituencies can be made. It is unaffected by sampling variability since it is a 100 per cent count.ONS is currently investigating improving both the range of labour market indicators available at a local level and the range of geographies for which they are available.
§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the Don Valley constituency have(a) retired from work, (b) taken voluntary redundancy and (c) been made compulsorily redundant for the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available; and what these figures represent as a proportion of the workforce. [59310]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Caroline Flint, dated November 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on people in the Don Valley constituency who have been made redundant or retired from employment.The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the ONS's major source of labour market data on individuals including redundancies. It can provide information on why people who are not in employment left their last job (although voluntary and compulsory redundancy are not separately identified). Such analyses can be restricted to people who have left their last job within the last 12 months. However, no LFS data is available at constituency level and no data below county level is available for such analyses. As with any sample survey the LFS is subject to sampling variability and even for South Yorkshire such an analysis will not yield reliable estimates. Unfortunately, no other source can provide the information requested either.
§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of new jobs in Doncaster Borough, broken down by sector, in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [59312]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
360WLetter from Tim Holt to Caroline Flint, dated 16 November 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the number of new jobs in the Doncaster Borough.Statistics for employee jobs in Doncaster Local Authority District by broad industry group are available from the ONS Annual Employment Survey (AES). The latest results are for September 1996, which can be compared with September 1995. You can access this information in the House of Commons Library through the NOMIS database.The figures for September 1997 are planned to be available from NOMIS from May 1999.