The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, May 2009:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking in which parliamentary constituencies the (a) number and (b) proportion of people out of work was greater in the latest month for which figures are available than in the equivalent month of 1997.(275446)""The Office for National Statistics compiles unemployment statistics in line with International Labour Market Organisation definitions, for local areas from the Annual Population Survey and its predecessor the Annual Labour Force Survey.""Unfortunately, due to small sample sizes at this level of geography it is not practicable to produce the requested analyses.""As an alternative, Table 1 shows the Parliamentary Constituencies where the number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (Claimant Count), the main unemployment related benefit, was higher in April 2009 compared to April 1997-Table 2 shows the ""Parliamentary Constituencies where the proportion of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance was higher in April 2009 compared to April 1997.""A copy of the tables has been placed in the Library of the House.""The definition of the claimant count has not changed since 1997, following the introduction of Jobseeker's Allowance in 1996.""Although not a change to the definition of the claimant count, the introduction of the system of joint claims for Jobseeker's Allowance from 2001 has meant that both members of certain couples are now required to claim JSA jointly and both are required to look for work. This change has led to certain claims being counted as two separate claims when they would previously have appeared as one claim. Without this change, the current level of the unemployment claimant count would be about 9,000 lower than it currently is."