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20 Oct 2005 : Column 1171W—continued

Employment Statistics (North-east)

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were in work in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the UK in each year since 1997. [19309]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
 
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Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Stephen Hepburn, dated 20 October 2005:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment. (19309)

The attached table shows the total number of people, aged 16 and over, in employment, resident in the Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside local authority and for the UK for the periods ending in February each year from 1998 to 2004 (based on annual local area Labour Force Survey data) and for April 2004 to March 2005, the latest available data, from the Annual Population Survey. These estimates as with any sample survey are subject to sampling variability.

The data is published on the Office for National Statistics's Nomis website: www.nomisweb.co.uk.

Table 1: Number of people aged 16 and over in employment by area of residence Thousand

12 months ending	Jarrow constituency	South Tyneside	United Kingdom
February 1998	32	57	26,357
February 1999	35	59	26,659
February 2000	36	58	26,908
February 2001	35	58	27,180
February 2002	36	60	27,433
February 2003	35	61	27,566
February 2004	35	60	27,789
March 2005	35	62	28,032

Source:
Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the level of long-term (a) youth and (b) adult employment was in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside and (iii) the UK in each year since 1997; [19307]

(2) how many people were unemployed in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the UK in each year since 1997. [19308]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Stephen Hepburn, dated 20 October 2005:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about unemployment. (19307, 19308)

Tables 1 to 3 attached show the total number of unemployed, the numbers of long-term adult unemployed (over 12 months) and long-term youth (aged 16 to 24) unemployed in the Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside local authority and for the UK for the periods ending in February each year from 1998 to 2004 (based on annual local area Labour Force Survey data) and for April 2004 to March 2005, the latest available data, from the Annual Population Survey. These estimates, as with any sample survey, are subject to sampling variability.

The Office for National Statistics also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas. Tables 4 to 6 attached show the annual average number of adult JSA claimants, claiming for over 12 months, and the corresponding number of JSA claimants aged 18 to 24 (claiming for over 12 months) resident in the Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside and the UK for 1997 to 2004.

The data in tables 4 to 6 are published on the Office for National Statistics's Nomis(r) website: www.nomisweb.co.uk

 
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Table 1: Number of unemployed resident in the Jarrow constituency Thousand

		Long-term unemployed (over 12 months)
12 month sending	All	All	Youth (aged 16 to 24)
February 1998	5	n/a	n/a
February 1999	3	(20)—	(20)—
February 2000	4	1	(20)—
February 2001	4	1	(21)—
February 2002	4	1	(20)—
February 2003	3	1	(20)—
February 2004	3	(21)—	(20)—
March 2005(19)	3	1	(20)—

n/a = Data not available.
⁽¹⁹⁾Annual Population Survey.
⁽²⁰⁾Zero or disclosive sample size.
⁽²¹⁾Less than 500.
Source:
Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.





Table 2: Number of unemployed resident in South Tyneside Thousand

		Long-term unemployed (over 12 months)
12 months ending	All	All	Youth (aged 16 to 24)
February 1998	8	n/a	n/a
February 1999	7	3	(23)—
February 2000	11	4	(23)—
February 2001	8	3	(24)—
February 2002	7	2	(24)—
February 2003	7	1	(24)—
February 2004	6	1	1
March 2005(22)	6	1	(24)—

n/a = Data not available.
⁽²²⁾Annual Population Survey.
⁽²³⁾Zero or disclosive sample size.
⁽²⁴⁾Less than 500.
Source:
Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.





Table 3: Number of unemployed in the United Kingdom Thousand

		Long-term unemployed (over 12 months)
12 months ending	All	All	Youth (aged 16 to 24)
February 1998	1,911	n/a	n/a
February 1999	1,730	520	82
February 2000	1,689	486	69
February 2001	1,518	410	68
February 2002	1,450	354	64
February 2003	1,494	322	61
February 2004	1,444	321	67
March 2005(25)	1,378	288	66

n/a = Data not available.
⁽²⁵⁾Annual Population Survey.
Source:
Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.




 
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Table 4: Number of JSA claimants resident in theJarrow constituency

		Claiming over 12 months(26)
Annual averages	All	All	Youth (aged 18 to 24)
1997	3,120	865	170
1998	2,765	475	70
1999	2,820	560	10
2000	2,625	555	5
2001	2,375	505	5
2002	2,275	405	5
2003	1,985	315	5
2004	1,740	260	5

⁽²⁶⁾Computerised claims only. Data rounded to nearest 5.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus Administrative system.





Table 5: Number of JSA claimants resident in South Tyneside

		Claiming over 12 months(27)
Annual averages	All	All	Youth (aged 18 to 24)
1997	7,005	2,025	395
1998	6,285	1,150	185
1999	6,475	1,430	25
2000	6,060	1,420	15
2001	5,540	1,280	15
2002	5,205	1,030	15
2003	4,590	795	15
2004	4,080	655	10

⁽²⁷⁾Computerised claims only. Data rounded to nearest 5.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus Administrative system.





Table 6: Number of JSA claimants in the United Kingdom

		Claiming over 12 months(28)
Annual averages	All	All	Youth (aged 18 to 24)
1997	1,602,440	462,360	78,970
1998	1,362,340	320,280	45,310
1999	1,263,000	295,935	13,800
2000	1,102,255	237,060	6,240
2001	983,000	186,770	4,500
2002	958,760	149,340	5,040
2003	945,895	135,735	5,420
2004	866,145	128,660	6,260

⁽²⁸⁾Computerised claims only. Data rounded to nearest 5.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus Administrative system.

Equitable Life

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with members of Equitable Life's Board of Directors regarding the failure of that company's recent legal action against its auditor, Ernst and Young. [19629]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Treasury has had no such discussions.

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the parliamentary Commissioner for administration concerning his ongoing inquiry into Equitable Life; and whether he has given him an indication of when the findings of the inquiry will be published. [19633]

 
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Parliamentary Ombudsman's investigation into the prudential regulation of Equitable Life is, like all such investigations, being conducted in private. The Treasury is co-operating fully with the investigation.

The timing of the Ombudsman's report is a matter for her, but her Office has stated publicly that she hopes to report in spring 2006.

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