House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 12 Nov 1996 (pt 16)

Economic and Monetary Union

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is his policy in respect of British membership of the Monetary Committee, appointed under article 109c of the treaty on European Union, if the United Kingdom declared against proceeding to the third stage of economic and monetary union; and to what extent the British members' powers and voting rights would be modified; [49]

Mrs. Angela Knight: Article 109c(1) of the EC treaty provides for the establishment of a Monetary Committee with advisory status. Its tasks include keeping under review the monetary and financial situation within the Community and preparing the work of the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers, ECOFIN, including the formulation of opinions on excessive deficits under article 104c(4) of the treaty. The United Kingdom would still participate in the Committee if the Government were to

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decide that the United Kingdom should not participate in the third stage of economic and monetary union. The powers and voting rights of its two members on the Committee would not be modified.

Article 109c(2) of the treaty provides for the Monetary Committee to be dissolved at the start of the third stage of EMU. It also provides for all member states, the European Commission and the European central bank to each appoint "no more than two members" to the Economic and Financial Committee. The EFC will be an advisory body. Its tasks will include keeping under review the monetary and financial situation within the Community and preparing the work of ECOFIN, including the formulation of opinions on excessive deficits under article 104c(4) of the treaty, and other tasks assigned to it by ECOFIN.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the United Kingdom's right to participate in the discussions, and vote on which countries fulfil the necessary conditions for the adoption of a single currency, as described in article 109j of the treaty on European Union, is (a) withdrawn and (b) modified if the United Kingdom decides not to join the third stage of economic and monetary union. [10]

Mrs. Knight: All member states will be able to participate and vote in the decisions under article 109j of the EC treaty on which member states fulfil the necessary conditions to adopt the single currency at the start of the third stage of economic and monetary union.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the United Kingdom is obliged to subscribe to the capital of the European central bank when it comes into being if the United Kingdom does not join the third stage of economic monetary union; and what estimate he has made of the cost of subscription. [50]

Mrs. Knight: Article 28 of the statute of the European system of central banks contained in protocol No. 3 to the EC treaty provides for the European central bank to have capital of 5,000 million ecu when it is established. The subscription to the capital by the national central banks of countries participating in the single currency will be on the basis of the key in article 29 of the statute. The ECB will, in addition to its tasks relating to the single currency and participating member states, also take over certain remaining tasks of the European Monetary Institute relating to countries not participating in the single currency. Article 48 of the statute of the ESCB provides for the possibility of non-participating member states' national central banks contributing a "minimal" share of the capital towards the operational costs of the ECB in certain circumstances. This would require a decision of the general council of the ECB on which the national central banks of non-participating member states will be represented.

Single European Currency

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the United Kingdom of converting to a single European currency; and if he will list cost estimates for each major sector of commerce, industry, Government and the general public. [11]

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Mrs. Angela Knight: The Government have not made any such estimates. The Government will take into account the potential costs of introducing the single currency when the facts are known and when they make their decisions on whether the United Kingdom should seek to participate in the single currency, at the appropriate time.

Self-employment Statistics

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the population in (a) the London borough of Lewisham, (b) the SOLOTEC area, (c) the wider central area, (d) Greater London and (e) the rest of southern England, were self-employed, using the labour force survey and mid-year population estimates in each of the past three years. [2300]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The information falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the proportion of the population who are self-employed in the South East.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) covers the population in private households plus persons in NHS accommodation and students in halls of residence. The mid-year population estimates additionally cover the rest of the non-household population. It is therefore more appropriate to calculate the proportions who are self employed using LFS estimates. This information can be accessed through the NOMIS database by the House of Common Library.
Mid-year population estimates taken from the Census of Population are published in Monitor--Population and Health. A copy of this publication is also available from the House of Commons Library.

Unemployment

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the proportion of male and female unemployed for (a) one year and (b) two years among the total unemployed for the latest period, and for the same period in 1995, 1994 and 1993 in (a) the London borough of Lewisham, (b) the SOLOTEC area, (c) the wider centre area, (d) Greater London and (e) the rest of the south-east; [2304]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The information falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

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Letter from Tim Holt to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions on the proportion of the population who are unemployed in the South East.
Published information on the numbers of people unemployed by duration and sex for the areas requested is restricted to claimant unemployment. The corresponding analyses from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), on unemployment on the internationally standard ILO basis are not available for TEC areas such as SOLOTEC which do not match local authority boundaries. In addition figures are not available for Lewisham because they are unreliable at this level of geographical disagregation.
The LFS provides ILO unemployment rates covering all the years requested for 16-19 year olds for Greater London and ROSE but not for the other areas listed. Claimant unemployment rates at this level of disagregation are only available for travel-to-work areas and unitary authorities and are not calculated for different age groups.
The available data can be assessed through NOMIS and the LFS Database in the House of Commons Library.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, have experienced at least one spell of unemployment since 1992, in each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, taking the new constituency boundaries, (1) as an absolute figure and (2) as a percentage of the number of people employed in the constituency using the 1993 figures in the absence of the 1995 figures in the relevant age band; [1907]

(3) what is the average number of claimants, in each constituency of the United Kingdom, (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, whose duration of unemployment became more than 12 months in each month since January 1992; [1892]

(4) how many people (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, have experienced (1) two, (2) three, (3) four and (4) five spells of unemployment, since 1992, in each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, taking the new parliamentary constituency boundaries, (x) as an absolute figure and (y) as a percentage of the number of people employed in the constituency using the 1993 figures in the absence of the 1995 figures; [1914]

(5) what is the average number of claims made by a claimant since 1992 (a) in total and (b) the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, in each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom; [1911]

(6) what is the number of claimants, in each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55

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Mrs. Knight [holding answer 7 November 1996]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions (1889, 1892, 1907, 1911, 1912 and 1914) on unemployment spell details by parliamentary constituency.

The information requested is unavailable as the JUVOS unemployment cohort does not hold data by parliamentary constituency.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claimants, who had been claiming for 52 weeks or more in the United Kingdom, (a) in total and (b) overall and (1) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, left the count for a job, in the year to June 1996 (1) in absolute terms and (2) as a percentage of all those who had been claiming for 52 weeks or more, in the year to June 1996. [1895]

Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on how many claimants, who had been claiming unemployment-related benefits for 52 weeks or more in the United Kingdom left the count for a job.
The figures requested are shown in the tables below.

Number of leavers from claimant unemployment with a known destination, who had been claiming for 52 weeks or more, by destination of leaver and age

			Thousands
		Destination of leaver
Age band (years)	Found work	Other known destination	Total
16-24	66.0	55.2	121.2
25-34	84.1	76.6	160.7
35-44	48.3	50.6	98.8
45-54	37.4	47.0	84.5
55-64	12.0	47.6	59.5
65 and over	0.0	0.6	0.6

All ages	247.8	277.6	525.4

Leavers over the year to June 1996.
United Kingdom.

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Percentage of leavers from claimant unemployment with a known destination, who had been claiming for 52 weeks or more, by destination of leaver and age

			Percentage
		Destination of leaver
Age band (years)	Found work	Other known destination	Total
16-24	54	46	100
25-34	52	48	100
35-44	49	51	100
45-54	44	56	100
55-64	20	80	100
65 and over	2	98	100

Total	47	53	100

Leavers over the year to June 1996.

United Kingdom.

You should note that for about a quarter of leavers we do not know their destination.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average length of time between claims for a claimant since 1992 (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over in the United Kingdom. [1909]

Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the average length of time between claims for claimants since 1992, by age.
The available data are shown in the following table. Data are only available for Great Britain.

Average length of time between claims by age band, for claims since January 1992

Age band (years)	Average length of time between claims (days)
16-24	195
25-34	204
35-44	204
45-54	193
55-64	177
65 and over	0
All ages	198

Great Britain.

It is not possible to calculate proportions as a percentage of the economically active workforce because the corresponding number of people who have never been economically active over the period is not known--only point in time estimates of the latter are available.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how may people in the United Kingdom (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, leaving the claimant count in the year to June 1996, went to (1) jobs and (2) other destinations; and if he will give (3) as a percentage of those leaving the claimant count in each age band. [1890]

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Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on how many people in the United Kingdom leaving the claimant count in the year to June 1996, went to jobs and other destinations, by age.
The figures requested are shown in the tables below.

Number of leavers from claimant unemployment with a known destination, by destination and age

			Thousands
		Destination of leaver
Age band (years)	Found work	Other known destination	Total
16-24	526.1	191.0	717.1
25-34	465.3	186.5	651.8
35-44	283.0	117.3	400.3
45-54	241.4	111.3	352.7
55-64	80.3	95.9	176.2
65 and over	0.1	3.0	3.1

All ages	1596.2	705.0	2301.2

Leavers over the year to June 1996.

United Kingdom.

Percentage of leavers from claimant unemployment with a known destination, by destination of leaver and age

Percentage

Destination of leaver

Age band (years) Found work Other known destination Total

16-24 73 27 100

25-34 71 29 100

35-44 71 29 100

45-54 68 32 100

55-64 46 54 100

65 and over 2 98 100

Total 69 31 100

			Percentage
		Destination of leaver
Age band (years)	Found work	Other known destination	Total
16-24	73	27	100
25-34	71	29	100
35-44	71	29	100
45-54	68	32	100
55-64	46	54	100
65 and over	2	98	100
Total	69	31	100

Leavers over the year to June 1996.

United Kingdom.

You should note that for about a quarter of leavers we do not know their destination.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people in each parliamentary consistency in the United Kingdom (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over, leaving the claimant count in the year to June 1996, went to (1) jobs and (2) other destinations; and if he will give (2) as a percentage of those leaving the claimant count in each relevant age band; [1891]

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Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions (1891 and 1914) on the destination of those leaving the claimant count in each parliamentary constituency.
The information on the destination of leavers from claimant unemployment is not available by parliamentary constituency.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the number of claimants in the United Kingdom (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over who have cumulatively claimed for 12 months or over, since 1992, in either one continuous claim or several separate claims (1) as an absolute figure, (2) as a percentage of the economically active work force in the relevant age band and (3) as a percentage of claimants in the relevant age band. [1921]

Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the number of claimants in the United Kingdom who have cumulatively claimed for 12 months and over, since 1992, in either one continuous claim or several claims, by age.

The available data are shown in the following table. Data are only available for Great Britain.

Number of claimants within each age band, who have cumulatively claimed for 12 months or more, since January 1992

	Thousands
Age band (years)	Average length of time between claims (days)
16-24	1,457.1
25-34	1,065.6
35-44	683.9
45-54	587.4
55-64	248.2
65 and over	0

All ages	4,042.3

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Percentage of all claimants within each age band, who have cumulatively claimed for 12 months or more, since January 1992

Age band (years)	Percentage of claimants
16-24	38
25-34	41
35-44	40
45-54	40
55-64	34
65 and over	9

All ages	39

Great Britain.

It is not possible to calculate proportions as a percentage of the economically active work force because the corresponding number of people who have never been economically active over the period is not known--only point in time estimates of the latter are available.

Ms Church: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average number of claims made by a claimant since 1992 (a) in total and (b) in the age bands (i) 16 to 24 years, (ii) 25 to 34 years, (iii) 35 to 44 years, (iv) 45 to 54 years, (v) 55 to 64 years and (vi) 65 years and over in the United Kingdom. [1908]

Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 12 November 1996:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent question on the average number of claims by claimants since 1992, by age.
The available data are shown in the following table. Data are only available for Great Britain.

Average number of claims made by claimants since January 1992

Age band (years)	Average number of claims
16-24	2.2
25-34	2
35-44	1.92
45-54	1.8
55-64	1.45
65 and over	1.05

All ages	1.99

Great Britain.

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