§ Ms BuckTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many constituencies in England, broken down by Government office in each region, are ranked within the top 100 by overall unemployment rate. [144282]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Kidgell to Ms Karen Buck, dated January 2001:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding the number of constituencies broken down by Government Office in each region that are ranked within the top 100 by overall unemployment rate (144282). I am replying in his absence.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish a monthly count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance credits at Employment Service local offices. They 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.Given below are the numbers of parliamentary constituencies in each English Government Office Region ranked with the 100 highest claimant count rate in November 2000.
English Government Office Region North East 16 North West 16 Yorkshire and the Humber 17 East Midlands 4 West Midlands 14 East 2 London 28 South East 2 South West 1