§ Hugh BayleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unemployed people in the City of York parliamentary constituency claimed unemployment benefit in each year since 1979. [102636]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Office for National Statistics to Hugh Bayley dated 18 March 2003:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about how many unemployed people in the City of York Parliamentary Constituency claimed unemployment benefit in each year since 1979.Information on the claimant count, that is the numbers claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or previous unemployment benefits by Parliamentary Constituency are available monthly, but only from June 1983 onwards. The data are not fully comparable over time. Figures for parliamentary constituencies from January 1996 were based on the ward boundaries of the 1991 census. Data before were based on the 1981 ward boundaries.The attached table shows the annual average claimant level in the City of York Parliamentary constituency for the year 1983 to 2002.
Annual average levels of claimant count in the City of York Parliamentary Constituency Year Number 1983 14,391 1984 5,133 1985 5,712 1986 5,994 1987 5,526 1988 4,538 1989 3,521 1990 2,991 1991 3,645 1992 4,281 1993 4,614 1994 4,582 1995 4,403 1996 4,053 1997 3,002 1998 2,495 1999 2,190 2000 1,895 2001 1,676 2002 1,480 1 Average of the seven months June to December 1983.