§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many constituencies there was a rise in the numbers of economically inactive people between(a) 1997 and 1998, (b) 1998 and 1999 and (c) 1997 and 1999. [138501]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 16 November 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
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Inactive people by regions (SSR)1, spring (March to May) 1984–2000 Thousand Spring United Kingdom Great Britain England North Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands East Anglia South East 1984 16,608 16,148 13,690 961 1,482 1,103 569 4,715 1985 16,634 16,171 13,693 987 1,457 1,141 575 4,774 1986 16,718 16,267 13,774 969 1,480 1,101 587 4,829 1987 16,672 16,208 13,692 944 1,473 1,136 577 4,815 1988 16,453 15,994 13,514 944 1,487 1,132 552 4,675 1989 16,214 15,757 13,339 944 1,475 1,082 559 4,614 1990 16,198 15,745 13,337 967 1,459 1,104 538 4,592 1991 16,413 15,957 13,503 971 1,457 1,122 577 4,661 1992 16,728 16,269 13,842 974 1,473 1,141 590 4,803 1993 16,954 16,461 13,939 979 1,470 1,145 581 4,860 1994 17,032 16,526 14,055 981 1,497 1,182 574 4,929 1995 17,155 16,657 14,162 1,001 1,486 1,177 599 4,929 1996 17,172 16,675 14,151 990 1,507 1,164 612 4,919 1997 17,184 16,687 14,198 995 1,529 1,166 647 4,15 1998 17,361 16,855 14,318 1,027 1,515 1,183 630 4,974 1999 17,237 16,728 14,193 1,019 1,519 1,193 631 4,917 2000 17,169 16,637 14,140 1,000 1,488 1,169 631 4,949 Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Frank Field, dated 30 November 2000:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about the numbers of economically inactive people in parliamentary constituencies (138501). I am replying in his absence.
Estimates of the number of people economically inactive are not available at constituency level.
However, information on economic activity rates at parliamentary constituency level can be derived on an annual basis from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is the main source of labour market data on individuals. The inactivity rate for all aged 16 and over is available for each constituency, for the periods March 1997 to February 1998 and March 1998 to February 1999.
As with any sample survey, LFS estimates are subject to sampling variability. The smaller the estimate the larger the variability relative to the size of the estimate. For this reason comparisons between small areas such as parliamentary constituencies should be treated with caution.
Inactive people are those who are neither employed or unemployed. This group includes for example all those who were looking after a home or retired.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many economically inactive people there were in each region of the United Kingdom in each of the last 20 years. [140486]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 27 November 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 30 November 2000:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about the number of economically inactive people in each region of the UK in each of the last 20 years. (140486)
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the main source of labour market data on individuals used by National Statistics. Estimates of the number of economically inactive people are only available since 1984 when the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of unemployment came into use. The attached table shows the estimates of the number of people economically inactive in each Standard Statistical Region in the UK since spring 1984.
People aged 16 or over are classed as economically inactive by the LFS if they are neither employed or ILO unemployed. This groups includes for example all those who were looking after a home or retired.
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Thousand Spring Greater London Rest of South East South West West Midlands North West Wales Scotland Northern Ireland 1984 1,918 2,797 1,401 1,530 1,929 926 1,533 460 1985 1,908 2,866 1,380 1,506 1,872 949 1,530 462 1986 1,958 2,870 1,415 1,486 1,907 939 1,555 451 1987 1,926 2,889 1,369 1,497 1,882 976 1,540 464 1988 1,902 2,773 1,381 1,487 1,855 958 1,522 458 1989 1,854 2,759 1,354 1,462 1,849 918 1,499 458 1990 1,837 2,755 1,370 1,445 1,862 917 1,491 453 1991 1,902 2,759 1,367 1,476 1,872 939 1,515 455 1992 1,976 2,827 1,401 1,530 1,932 957 1,469 459 1993 1,937 2,923 1,412 1,540 1,952 989 1,533 493 1994 1,990 2,937 1,411 1,513 1,967 971 1,500 506 1995 1,993 2,937 1,415 1,543 2,013 966 1,529 498 1996 1,981 2,938 1,445 1,544 1,972 973 1,552 497 1997 1,963 2,951 1,408 1,555 1,983 956 1,532 497 1998 2,038 2,936 1,420 1,538 2,032 1,000 1,537 506 1999 1,967 2,948 1,400 1,533 1,982 980 1,555 509 2000 1,998 2,948 1,419 1,572 1,915 982 1,514 533 1Standard Statistical Regions (SSR) have been used for consistency as they are available since 1984 Source:
ONS—Labour Force Survey