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 how many people were in (a) full-time education and (b) retired from employment in (i) England and (ii) North Yorkshire in each year since 1997. (260046)""The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor, the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS), following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.""Estimates arc provided for the number of working age people (women aged 16-59, men aged 16-64) who state they are full-time students. A full time student is defined as being at school, following a sandwich course or full time at university or college. Estimates are also provided for the number of people retired from employment: this is defined as those who are economically inactive and report their main reason for inactivity as being retired.""Table 1 attached shows the number of working age persons in full-time education resident in England and in the North Yorkshire region in each year since 1997. The estimates from 1997 to 2004 are for the 12 month period ending February that year and taken from the annual LFS. Figures for 2005 to 2008 are for the 12 month period ending March that year and taken from the APS. Estimates for July 2007 to June 2008 have also been provided, as the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available.""Table 2 attached shows the number of people who are retired from employment resident in England and in the North Yorkshire region in each year since 1998. Estimates are provided for the 12 months ending in February from 1998, the earliest period for which estimates are available, to 2004, from the annual LFS, and for the 12 months ending in March from 2005 to 2008, from APS. Estimates for July 2007 to June 2008 have also been provided, as the most recent for which figures are available.""These estimates are for subset of the population and not for the country as a whole, so they are based on reduced sample sizes. They are therefore subject to larger margins of uncertainty than are national estimates. A guide to the reliability of the estimates is given with the tables." Table 1: Number of persons of working age¹ in full-time education² in (a) England and (b) North Yorkshire in each year since 1997. Thousand 12 months ending England North Yorkshire February 1998 2,093 18 February 1999 2,077 23 February 2000 2,120 19 February 2001 2,179 17 February 2002 2,257 18 February 2003 2,329 23 February 2004 2,387 23 March 2005 2,460 23 March 2006 2,572 24 March 2007 2,643 24 March 2008 2,716 23 June 2008³ *2,737 ***23 ¹ Working age (women aged 16 to 59, men aged 16 to 64). ² Coverage applies to all respondents, of working age, who stated they are full-time students. A full-time student is defined as being at school, following a sandwich course or full-time at university or college. ³ Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality 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. Source: Annual Labour Force Survey & Annual Population Survey. Table 2: Number of people who are retired¹ from employment in (a) England, (b) North Yorkshire in each year since 1997. Thousand 12 months ending England North Yorkshire February 1998 ²— ²— February 1999 7,894 139 February 2000 7,946 144 February 2001 7,977 115 February 2002 8,125 109 February 2003 8,131 103 February 2004 8,136 102 March 2005 8,203 116 March 2006 8,239 117 March 2007 8,217 112 March 2008 8,200 114 June 2008³ *8,248 **118 ¹ The number of people retired from employment is defined as those who are economically inactive and report their main reason for inactivity as being retired. ² Data are not available for March 1997 to February 1998. ³ Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality 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. Source: Annual Labour Force Survey & Annual Population Survey