§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the unemployed in St. Helens, South have been unemployed for a year or more(a) this year, (b) in 1997 and (c) in 1992. [38268]
§ Ruth KellyI have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Shaun Woodward, dated 28 February 2002
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking for the percentage of the unemployed in St. Helens South who have been unemployed for a year or more (a) this year, (b) in 1997 and (c) in 1992. [38268]The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics for unemployment from surveys following the international standard International Labour Organisation definition. However, for the St. Helens South parliamentary constituency the survey sample size is too small to provide estimates.ONS also compiles statistics 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.The table below shows numbers of claimants with duration over one year or more calculated as a percentage of the total number of claimants in the St. Helens South parliamentary constituency for each January 1992, 1997 and 2002.
St. Helens South parliamentary constituency: Claimants for over one year (computerised claims only*) Level Per cent. January 1992 1,704 34.5 January 1997 1,300 37.9 January 2002 454 20.2 * Computerised claims include around 99 per cent. of all claims.