§ Mr. HendrickTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the level of unemployment was in each year since 1997 in Preston; [169673]
(2) if he will make a statement on the levels of long-term (a) adult and (b) youth employment in Preston over the last seven years. [169665]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about unemployment. (169665, 169673)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Preston Parliamentary Constituency.
1476WONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
The attached table gives the annual average number of people claiming JSA for over 12 months, and the annual average number of these claimants aged 18 to 24 years, in the Preston constituency, for each year since 1997. The table also shows the annual average total number of JSA claimants in the constituency for these years.
Annual average number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), and number claiming for at least twelve months
1Claimants for at least twelve months Preston parliamentary constituency, 1997–2003 All claimants All ages Aged 18–24 1997 3,364 917 135 1998 2,826 478 67 1999 2,632 536 23 2000 2,375 475 8 2001 2,118 391 6 2002 2,056 315 8 2003 1,894 262 10 1 Computerised claims only. Source: Office for National Statistics
§ Mr. HendrickTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the(a) change and (b) percentage change was in full-time permanent jobs in Preston from 1997 to 31 December 2003; [169675]
(2) how many new jobs have been created in Preston since 1997. [169676]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about full-time jobs and jobs created in Preston. I am replying in his absence. (169675, 169676)
While statistics of new jobs created are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes, in numbers of jobs, from year to year.
The attached table shows the information requested, relating to all jobs and full-time jobs in Preston for 1997 and 2002, which is the latest year available.
Information is not available about whether the jobs were permanent.
1477W
Number of full-time employees and total number of employees1 in Preston parliamentary constituency: 1997 and 2002
Number, per cent Full-Time Total Number of employees 1997 52,800 71,600 2002 60,200 83,600 Change from 1997 to 2002 Absolute 7,300 12,000 Percentage 13.9 16.8 1 Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs. Source: 1997; Annual Employment Survey, resealed 2002; Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).
§ Mr. HendrickTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed in tourism-related jobs in Preston on the latest date for which figures are available. [169677]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about tourism-related jobs in Preston. (169677)
The latest available data, from the 2002 Annual Business Inquiry, shows that the total number of jobs in tourism related industries in Preston was 5,500. This total is obtained by combining figures for those working in the following industries, as identified by Standard Industrial Classification 2003:
- hotels
- restaurants
- bars
- activities of travel agencies
- library, archives museums etc
- sporting activities
- other recreational activities.
§ Mr. HendrickTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in Preston in(a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [169682]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Preston. I am replying in his absence. (169682)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records the number of unfilled vacancies in the Preston travel-to-work area was 2558 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.