House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 16 Jan 2007 (pt 0012)

16 Jan 2007 : Column 1010W—continued

Departmental Staff

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his Department's civil servants work full-time to support the two special advisers assigned to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury; and what the pay bands are of each such civil servant. [116053]

John Healey: As part of their responsibilities, four full-time staff provide support to both the special advisers to the Chef Secretary and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer: one at range E, one at range D, one at range C and one at range B.

16 Jan 2007 : Column 1011W

Employee Share Ownership

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department’s policy is on employee share ownership schemes; and what estimate he has made of how many companies operate such schemes. [114890]

Ed Balls: The Government are committed to supporting employee share ownership, which benefits companies, employees and the economy.

The Government encourage employee share ownership through three tax-advantaged share schemes: Save-As-You-Earn (SAYE), the Share Incentive Plan (SIP), and the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP).

The Government also introduced the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI), designed to help small higher-risk companies recruit and retain employees who have the skills that will help the company to grow and succeed. EMI as a share option incentive also facilitates employee share ownership.

Details on all the tax-advantaged share schemes, including the National Statistics on their usage, can be found at:

www.hmrc.gov.uk/shareschemes/

The Government have not made any estimate regarding how many companies operate non-tax-advantaged employee share schemes.

Employment

Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women were (i) International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployed, (ii) economically inactive and wanting work and (iii) economically inactive and not wanting work in each year since 1997; and how many were (A) aged 50 to 54, (B) aged 55 to 59, (C) aged 60 to 64 and (D) aged over 65 years. [114626]

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

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2007:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the numbers of men and women who are unemployed and economically inactive (i) wanting a job and (ii) not wanting a job by age in each year since 1997. (114626)

The eight tables attached give estimates of the numbers of men and women resident in the United Kingdom who are unemployed and economically inactive by gender and age. This includes inactive people who (i) want a job and (ii) do not want a job for the three months ending June each year since 1997. Comparable estimates are not available for 1998 and 2000.

Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

16 Jan 2007 : Column 1012W

Table 1: Unemployed and inactive people by gender and age, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted—Three months ending June 1997
Thousand
	Unemployed	Inactive
	Total	Total	Wants job	Does not want job
All persons
Total 16+	2,013	17,009	2,560	14,449
50-54	147	781	206	574
55-59	121	1,080	227	853
60-64	62	1,688	208	1,481
65+	12	8,344	80	8,264
Men
Total 16+	1,248	6,199	1,017	5,181
50-54	93	264	95	168
55-59	84	373	110	263
60-64	55	650	135	515
65+	9	3,397	80	3,317
Women
Total 16+	765	10,811	1,543	9,268
50-54	54	517	111	406
55-59	37	707	117	590
60-64	7	1,038	73	965
65+	3	4,947	⁽¹⁾—	4,947
⁽¹⁾ Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Table 2: Unemployed and inactive people by gender and age, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted—Three months ending June 1999
Thousand
	Unemployed	Inactive
	Total	Total	Wants job	Does not want job
All persons
Total 16+	1,695	17,108	2,458	14,650
50-54	124	822	229	592
55-59	98	1,075	225	850
60-64	53	1,779	204	1,574
65+	10	8,364	64	8,300
Men
Total 16+	1,034	6,315	1,006	5,309
50-54	79	275	102	173
55-59	66	386	119	267
60-64	44	687	140	547
65+	9	3,434	64	3,370
Women
Total 16+	661	10,793	1,453	9,340
50-54	45	546	127	419
55-59	32	689	105	583
60-64	9	1,092	64	1,028
65+	1	4,930	⁽¹⁾—	4,929
⁽¹⁾ Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

16 Jan 2007 : Column 1013W

Table 3: Unemployed and inactive people by gender and age, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted—Three months ending June 2001
Thousand
	Unemployed	Inactive
	Total	Total	Wants job	Does not want job
All persons
Total 16+	1,408	17,337	2,341	14,996
50-54	93	808	218	590
55-59	73	1,115	215	901
60-64	40	1,749	180	1,569
65+	9	8,482	58	8,423
Men
Total 16+	849	6,548	982	5,566
50-54	61	268	101	167
55-59	52	410	114	296
60-64	35	686	118	568
65+	7	3,528	58	3,470
Women
Total 16+	559	10,789	1,359	9,430
50-54	32	540	116	423
55-59	21	705	101	604
60-64	5	1,063	62	1,002
65+	2	4,954	⁽¹⁾—	4,954
⁽¹⁾ Estimates are taken from the LFS. Samples sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

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