§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of 16 and 17-year-olds who work full-time(a) in the UK, (b) in Teesside Region and (c) in the constituency of Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East. [131011]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 17 July 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Ashok Kumar, dated 17 July 2000:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about 16 and 17 year olds in full-time employment in the UK, Teesside and the constituency of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.The latest available non-seasonally adjusted data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is National Statistics' main source of labour market data on individuals, show that there were 182,000 16 and 17 year olds in full-time employment in the UK in the spring (March-May) quarter of 2000.The LFS is able to provide estimates at local or small area levels but as with any sample survey these are subject to sampling variability. The smaller the estimate, the larger the variability relative to the size of the estimate. Unfortunately, analyses of employment among 16 & 17 year olds for both the Teesside area and the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency do not provide reliable estimates.People aged 16 or over are classed as in employment by the LFS if they have done at least one hour of paid work (as an employee or self-employed) in the week prior to their LFS interview or if they have a job that they are temporarily away from. People who do unpaid work in a family business and people on Government-supported training and employment programmes are also included according to the International Labour Organisation convention.