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7 Jun 2004 : Column 238W—continued
Employment (Blackpool, North and Fleetwood)
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unemployment was in each year since 1997 in Blackpool, North and Fleetwood. [176400]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mrs. Joan Humble, dated 7 June 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about unemployment. I am replying in his absence. (176400)
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 Blackpool North & Fleetwood Constituency.
ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
The table below gives the annual average number of JSA claimants for the Blackpool North & Fleetwood constituency for each year since 1997.
| Average annual claimants | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 2,489 |
| 1998 | 2,092 |
| 1999 | 1,913 |
| 2000 | 1,807 |
| 2001 | 1,701 |
| 2002 | 1,493 |
| 2003 | 1,365 |
EU Budget
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the average net contributions of each EU member state to the EU budget since 1995. [176674]
Ruth Kelly: Based on data published by the European Commission, the indicative net contributions of each member state over the period 1995 to 2002, the latest year for which information is currently available, are set out in the following table:
Member state | Average net contribution 1995 to 2002 (€ million) |
|---|---|
| Belgium | -1,120.0 |
| Denmark | 37.1 |
| Germany | 10,330.8 |
| Greece | -4,038.7 |
| Spain | -6,617.4 |
| France | 1,446.8 |
| Ireland | -1,904.8 |
| Italy | 1,467.6 |
| Luxembourg | -712.0 |
| The Netherlands | 2,845.5 |
| Austria | 625.5 |
| Portugal | -2,499.6 |
| Finland | 57.4 |
| Sweden | 1,051.4 |
| United Kingdom | 3,878.2 |
Note:
A minus sign indicates a net beneficiary.
Source:
Based on information on member states' contributions and receipts published in European Commission Reports on the allocation of EU operating expenditure.
Alf Allington Informant Record
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 146W, on Customs and Excise, whether the receipt of the copy of the general briefing about the review of the London City Bond-related cases was the first occasion on which the Economic Secretary was informed of the existence of the Alf Allington informant record. [176697]
Education Spending
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures the Office of National Statistics uses to measure the productivity of education spending. [170727]
Ruth Kelly
[holding answer 4 May 2004]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
7 Jun 2004 : Column 240W
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hoban, dated 7 June 2004:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what measures the Office of National Statistics uses to measure the productivity of education spending. (170727)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published an indicative estimate of productivity change for government as a whole in an article in Economic Trends, July 2003. At present, this estimate does not meet all the criteria to be a National Statistic and was published as an experimental statistic rather than a regular series.
ONS has also stated that a productivity analysis would be published at function level as soon as the quality of the data warrant it. That point has not yet been reached. As a result, ONS does not yet publish a measure of education productivity.
ONS recognises that in recent years there have been increased demands on, and expectations of, measures of government output. The Atkinson Review was set up in December 2003 to advance methodologies in measuring government activities, including productivity. It is due to produce a preliminary report in July 2004 and a final report by January 2005.
Government Expenditure (Wales)
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total Government expenditure on Wales was through (a) the Welsh Block and (b) other funding streams in each of the last 10 years. [177352]
Mr. Boateng: Identifiable public spending by function, region and country is published annually in "Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses". Table 8.14 of "Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2004" (Cm 6201) shows a functional breakdown for identifiable expenditure in Wales for 2002–03, the latest year for which data are available, apportioned between the National Assembly for Wales, local authorities and UK Government Departments. Data on identifiable spending in Wales for previous years are published in previous editions of "Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses."
Greenhouse Gases Statistics
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason statistics relating to increases in greenhouse gases from the transport sector were removed from the recent Office of National Statistics report on the environment. [177225]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Norman Baker, dated 7 June 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on the removal of information from the ONS Environmental Accounts (177225).
The information on greenhouse gas emissions from transport were not removed from the ONS Environmental Accounts report published on 20 May 2004. The report was never altered from the version originally prepared by professional statisticians within ONS, and is publicly available on the National Statistics website.
The focus of the accompanying News Release changed during drafting, as there were some unresolved statistical concerns over the reconciliation of road freight emissions figures using alternative definitions. Given these concerns, it was decided that it would not be appropriate for the News Release to focus upon
- transport emissions as had been intended. This decision was taken independently by senior government statisticians, as a matter of professional judgement.
The circumstances surrounding this decision are explained in a letter that I sent to David Rowlands (Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport) on 28 May. This letter is available on the website of the Statistics Commission at: http://www. statscom.org.uk/media pdfs/correspondence/letter0189.pdf
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he takes to ensure that his policy that reports produced by the Office for National Statistics are not subject to political interference is upheld in respect of representations from the Department for Transport. [177226]
Ruth Kelly: Reports produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are not subject to political interference. All statistics published by ONS are prepared in accordance with the "Framework for National Statistics", published in June 2000. This places an obligation on official statisticians:
"to improve public confidence in official statistics by demonstrating that they are free from political interference".
As the Minister responsible for National Statistics, I fully support the principles set out in the 'Framework' document.
The final responsibility for the content form and timing of the publication of National Statistics, for which the ONS is responsible for, is the Director of ONS. Were Ministers to be consulted by him on any such matters, which is rare, then it would be through the National Statistics protocol on consultation.
ONS publishes some statistics where the components draw on the expertise of statisticians from the Government Statistical Service, who work in other Departments. It is not unusual for them to be asked to review how statistics that they have expertise in will be reported. These statisticians operate under the National Statistics Code of Practise.
The National Statistician, who is Director of the ONS, has released his own correspondence confirming that it was the advice of a senior statistician in the Transport Department which led to his senior staff deciding to change the press release which summarised the content of the Environmental Account being published by ONS. No changes were made to the substantive reports as a result of this exchange. Both the published and withdrawn versions are discoverable.
The assertion that ONS has been subject to political interference is contradicted by the very process applied by ONS.
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