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22 Feb 2005 : Column 476W—continued
Regional Statistics
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which local authorities fall within Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3. [216560]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 22 February 2005:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking which local authorities fall within NUTS (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3. (216560)
The current relationships between local authority districts and NUTS levels 1, 2 and 3 are contained in the Gazetteer of the old and new geographies of the United Kingdom (ISBN 1 85774 298 2) published by the Office for National Statistics in 1999. The publication can be viewed on the National Statistics website, and can be downloaded in pdf format at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/gazetteer.asp
The relationships between the local authority districts and the NUTS 1–3 levels are shown in tabular form on pages 10–40, and the full NUTS 1–3 classification with maps, is shown on pages 88–113.
Since local government reorganisation in 1998, there have been minor changes to local authority district boundaries in Wales in April 2002 and April 2003, and in Scotland in June 2002. However, these have not impacted on the NUTS 1–3 areas because the NUTS boundaries moved to retain the relationships. There have not been any local authority district boundary changes in England since 1998 or in Northern Ireland since 1973.
The NUTS 1–3 areas were frozen by EU Regulation in July 2003 and, in consequence, the small change in the boundary between Powys and Neath Port Talbot, effective on 1 April 2005, will result in part of Powys falling within Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot" NUTS 3 area, and within West Wales and the Valleys" NUTS 2 area. There are no other local authority district boundary changes being effected in the UK in 2005.
The EU Regulation does not permit the NUTS classification to be amended to reflect small changes to administrative area boundaries more frequently than every 3 years but amendments can be made at lesser intervals if the administrative structure is substantially reorganised.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which statistics relating to England the Office for National Statistics (a) collates, (b) publishes and (c) aggregates at a Government Office for Region level. [216036]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 22 February 2005:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on which statistics relating to England, the Office for National Statistics (a) collates, (b) publishes and (c) aggregates at a Government Office for Regions level. I am replying in his absence. 216036
ONS's practice is to provide analyses by region where this is meaningful in terms of the statistics concerned, subject to the reliability of the figures and providing that release does not create a risk of disclosure of confidential personal information. Following the establishment of Government Offices in 1994, the decision was taken in 1996 that the Government Office regions should become the standard statistical regions for England.
It is standard practice in ONS data collection to include suitable geographic referencing in surveys of businesses and individuals, allowing statistics to be analysed and published at a variety of geographic levels including region. The bulk of ONS statistics can therefore be produced by region, including the Census of population and household and business surveys. A list of major statistical collections indicating the levels at which figures are available will be placed in the House of Commons library.
ONS also publishes a number of statistical reports—such as Regional Trends and Region in Figures—that include regional figures obtained from other Government departments. A list of the contents at regional level will also be placed in the Library. In addition, the Neighbourhood Statistics service includes a wealth of data relating to much smaller geographic areas which can be aggregated to regional level.
Following the 2004 report of the review by Christopher Allsopp of statistics for economic policymaking, the Office is looking to improve the information on its web site about the availability of regional and other sub-national statistics.
Pupil Absence Rates
Mr. Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ask the Office for National Statistics to publish pupil absence rates by local authority ward on the Neighbourhood Statistics website. [216923]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 21 February 2005]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Adrian Flook, dated 22 February 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if the Office for National Statistics will publish pupil absence rates by local authority ward on the Neighbourhood Statistics website. (216923)
The Office for National Statistics is planning to publish information on pupil absence as part of the on-going development of the Neighbourhood Statistics website to support work on neighbourhood renewal. It is hoped that the data will be released in the second quarter of 2005.
A recent review, with representatives from the Department for Education and Skills, has confirmed that data on pupil absences has the highest priority. As a result the Office for National Statistics is working with the Department for Education and Skills to make available details of authorised and unauthorised absences in primary and secondary schools for the periods 2002–03 and 2003–04. The level of detail (including the geographical level) cannot be guaranteed at this time as it would depend on whether the information would be disclosive. To protect the confidentiality of information about identifiable individuals, information will be published in strict accordance with the National Statistics Code of Practice.
Staff Identity Passes
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of producing a staff identity pass was in the Department on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many staff identity passes have been reported lost or stolen in each year since 1997. [215078]
Mr. Timms: The cost of producing security access passes for Treasury staff is not separately identifiable. The number of passes reported lost or stolen in 2003 and 2004 was 128 and 120 respectively. Numbers for previous years are not available.
Staff Surveys
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much was paid to consultants carrying out staff surveys in the Department in each year since 1997; [213655]
(2) what the cost of staff surveys in the Department was in each year since 1997. [213683]
Mr. Timms: The Treasury expenditure for staff surveys were:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 24,000 |
| 2003–04 | 58,000 |
| 2004–05 | 38,000 |
22 Feb 2005 : Column 479W
For years prior to 2002–03 full details are not readily available. I refer the hon. Member to the responses given by my predecessor on 26 February 2004, Official Report, column. 534W and on 26 February 2003, Official Report, column. 567W for further details.
The Treasury use consultants in carrying out surveys and all the expense relates to consultancy fees.
Suicides (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people committed suicide in Lancashire in 2003–04. [216895]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Lindsay Hoyle, dated 22 February 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people committed suicide in Lancashire in 2003–2004. (216895)
The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. In that year there were 104 suicides 1 of usual residents of Lancashire. 2
1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 (intentional self-harm) and Y10-Y34 (event of undetermined intent) excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending.
2 The figure provided relates to the current county of Lancashire. This excludes the unitary authorities of Blackburn and Darwen, and Blackpool, created in 1998, which were part of the former county. The figure is the number of suicides of those who normally lived in Lancashire, rather than the number of these deaths which occurred within the county.
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