§ Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the labour force inactivity rates were for each of the last 10 years in each standard planning region. [140683]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Win Griffiths, dated 29 November 2000:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about the labour force inactivity rates for the last 10 years.The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the main source of labour market data on individuals used by National Statistics. Government Office Regions (GORs) have only been used by the LFS since 1992. Previous to 1992 the Standard Statistical Regions (SSRs) were used. For comparability, only data from spring 1992 has been supplied. The table overleaf shows the inactivity rates in each of the GORs in the UK since spring 1992.People aged 16 or over are classed as economically inactive by the LFS if they are neither employed or ILO unemployed. This group includes for example all those who were looking after a home or retired.