The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2009, Official Report, columns 1666-7W, on employment, how many and what proportion of (a) UK born UK nationals, (b) non-UK born UK nationals, (c) UK born non-UK nationals and (d) non-UK born non-UK nationals there were in the working population in each year since 1997. (267739)""The requested information is shown in the attached table.""The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This is assessed in a footnote to the table.""The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published ""in autumn 2007. Consequently the 2007 and 2008 estimates are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release, or the non-UK born employment figures published every quarter, which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates." People aged 16 and over in employment by nationality and country of birth, three month period ending December, 1997-2008—United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted UK born UK nationals Non-UK born UK nationals UK born non-UK nationals Non-UK born non-UK nationals Number (thousand) As a percentage of all people in employment Number (thousand) As a percentage of all people in employment Number (thousand) As a percentage of all people in employment Number (thousand) As a percentage of all people in employment 1997 24,664 92 1,025 4 — — 988 4 1998 24,861 92 1,093 4 — — 1,047 4 1999 25,248 92 1,074 4 — — 1,046 4 2000 25,321 92 1,066 4 — — 1,204 4 2001 25,464 91 1,125 4 — — 1,234 4 2002 25,580 91 1,178 4 — — 1,354 5 2003 25,734 91 1,184 4 — — 1,376 5 2004 25,838 90 1,226 4 — — 1,585 6 2005 25,823 90 1,298 5 — — 1,710 6 2006 25,792 88 1,347 5 37 0 1,971 7 2007 25,844 88 1,427 5 — — 2,177 7 2008¹ *25,581 87 *1,466 5 ****— — *2,354 8 — = Sample size too small for reliable estimates. ¹ Coefficients of Variation have been calculated as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described below: Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 [le] CV < 5 Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 [le] CV < 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise. *** 10 [le] CV < 20 Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV =20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes and have not been provided. Note: It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.). Source: Labour Force Survey