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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1699W—continued
Government departments and other users were kept informed at each stage in the development and implementation of the improved methodology. Papers were submitted for discussion at the regular meetings held with the population sub-group of Central and Local Information Partnership (CLIP). Membership of CLIP includes representatives from Government departments, as well as from local government. The proposed new methodology was first discussed by CLIP in April 2006 prior to the announcement, in August 2006, of plans to implement the revised methods. The publication of indicative figures and explanatory papers followed in April 2007. Presentations of the methods were made at conferences and seminars, in particular at the British Society of Population Studies.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when estimates for short-term migration will be published for each local authority area. [199304]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking when estimates for short-term migration will be published for each local authority area. (199304)
An initial report on the outcome of work to explore the feasibility of producing such estimates is planned for late 2008. If this concludes that a suitable methodology can be developed using existing sources, which is at this point still uncertain, it is anticipated that estimates for short-term migration for local authorities could be published in 2009.
Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which recommendations of the Inter-departmental Task Force on Migration Statistics (a) have and (b) have not been implemented since the publication of its report. [199855]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Let ter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking which recommendations of the Inter-Departmental Task Force on Migration Statistics have been implemented. (199855)
Following the release of the Migration Task Force report ONS made a bid for funding of new work to implement the recommendations made. It was always intended that this would be necessary as the Task Force identified further work over and above that which ONS could have achieved on its own.
In 2007 ONS implemented some improvements to existing population estimates (mainly involving the distribution of international migration between local areas). The future work programme started on 1 April 2008.
In practice ONS has made progress where possible. In particular:
An interim Port Survey Review report was published in October 2007 identifying a series of short-term improvements that will be implemented in 2008. In addition, more emigrants are being sampled in the International Passenger Survey.
ONS published experimental statistics on short term migration at the end of 2007 and is researching the feasibility of producing these at local level.
A step towards more coherent reporting of migration statistics was made in February when the Home Office and ONS published outputs at the same time as a more joined-up package. This approach will be developed throughout 2008.
ONS has been working closely with other government departments including DWP and DCSF to explore what administrative data is available and how it might be used to improve migration statistics. A paper was published in late 2007. ONS is also looking at how data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency might be used to improve internal migration estimates at student ages.
ONS and Home Office are working together to define the statistical requirements of the new e-Borders system, gathering data on people as they enter or leave the UK.
ONS published in late 2007 indicators of volumes of migration into and out of local areas.
Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the reliability of the short-term migration statistical series produced by the Office for National Statistics; and if he will make a statement. [199856]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what assessment has been made of the reliability of the short-term migration statistical series. (199856)
Short-term migration estimates were published for the first time in October 2007, together with associated standard errors which provide an indication of how much a sample estimate might vary from the true value because of random effects.
The estimates are not yet classified as National Statistics as they are still under development. At the time of publishing, ONS set out the future pathway to achieving the higher quality standards of National Statistics status. The first stage of this work is to carry out a reconciliation exercise between combined estimates of long and short-term migration and counts of international immigrants from administrative sources. Publication of this first step is planned for May 2008.
Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate he has made of the funding required to implement the recommendations made by the inter-departmental task force on migration statistics; what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues over such funding; and how much has been allocated to implement these recommendations in each of the next three years. [199857]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, 21 April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question o the funding required to implement the recommendations made by the inter-departmental taskforce on migration statistics and discussions that have been held with ministerial colleagues. (199857)
ONS is currently in the final stages of agreeing the work programme for improving migration statistics. The initial assessment ONS made of the funding required to implement the migration task force recommendations is estimated to be £48 million over five years in full implementation were to be achieved. This estimate is made up of work needed in other government departments as well as the work ONS would do.
ONS has had discussions with departmental colleagues over the work programme and the associated funding requirements, and those colleagues have engaged their Ministers. The National Statistician has also engaged directly with John Healey and Liam Byrne on this matter but no formal ministerial meeting has been held at this state.
The statistical work programme for ONS as a whole, which will cover the first four years of migration statistics improvements, is being finalised and will be the details of the migration statistics improvement programme.
Official Residences: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2008, Official Report, column 1307W, on official residences: repairs and maintenance, whether any (a) cleaning, (b) minor works and (c) refurbishment have been undertaken on the Prime Minister’s personal residence in Downing Street following the departure of the previous Prime Minister. [199106]
Phil Hope: The costs of refurbishment of the Prime Minister’s official residence and the Downing Street complex are given on a regular basis following the end of the financial year.
Overseas Students
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of migrants to the UK entered the country to study at a UK educational institution in the latest period for which figures are available. [199658]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what proportion of migrants to the UK entered the country to study at a UK institution in the latest period for which figures are available. (199658)
The latest available estimates of Total International Migration (TIM) are for the 2006 calendar year. In 2006 27 per cent. of migrants cited formal study as their main reason for migration to the UK. This percentage excludes those migrants with another main reason for migration, such as accompanying or joining family members, but who may also undertake study in the UK.
Pensioners
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the average age is of a pensioner in (a) Scotland and (b) England. [199968]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question on what the average age is of a pensioner in (a) Scotland and (b) England. (199968)
The median age of the population of pensionable age in both Scotland and England is 72 years. These data are based on mid-2006 population estimates which are the latest available.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many pensioners there were in (a) Scotland and (b) England at the latest date for which figures are available; and what percentage of the total population they represented. [199969]
Edward Miliband: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 April 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question regarding how many pensioners there were in (a) Scotland and (b) England at the latest date for which figures are available, and what they represented as a percentage of the total population. (199969).
The following table shows the data you have requested. The latest population estimates available are for mid-2006.
| 2006 Mid-year estimate of pensionable age resident population | ||
| Country | Persons of pensionable age (thousand) | Percentage of total population |
| Sources: Office for National Statistics and General Register Office for Scotland. | ||
Political Office
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was contributed from the public purse towards the cost of Downing Street Political Office staff that are part funded by the Labour Party, in the most recent year for which figures are available. [198195]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member for Horsham to the answer the Prime Minister gave on 22 January 2008, Official Report, column 1789W.
Psychology
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which chartered psychologists have been hired by his Department in the last 24 months; at what cost; and for what purpose. [198181]
Mr. Watson: Information on whether individual management units have used chartered psychologists is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Public Participation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2008, Official Report, column 1307W, on public participation: incentives, what the criteria by which Ipsos MORI recruited participants to attend; what methodology they used to ensure a group of people from all walks of life were selected; and whether membership of a political party was one of the criteria used to select or not select individuals; [198194]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2007, Official Report, column 1344W, on public participation: incentives, what steps were taken to determine whether participants in the deliberative forum had party political affiliations. [198097]
Mr. Watson: Ipsos MORI managed the recruitment process for the national workshop and selected a group of people by face to face interviews from across the UK and all walks of life to be reflective of the population to attend. Ipsos MORI used a number of quotas to ensure that the recruitment was a good reflection of the general public as a whole, including key demographic questions on age, gender, socio-economic group, etc. They also asked attitudinal questions, such as views on whether the Governments policies are likely to improve public services or not and questions on political activism, including party membership, to ensure people with a good range of views and people with different levels of political activism attended the event.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many individuals have responded to his Department’s “Have Your Say” consultation. [198196]
Mr. Watson: The Crime and Communities review’s “Call for Evidence” has by the end of March 2008, attracted 944 responses to its questionnaire, and in addition, 606 community activists have also attended evidence gathering events across the country. The deadline for the end of the evidence gathering process is the 11 April 2008.
Rackspace
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the value was of each contract awarded by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies to Rackspace in the last year for which figures are available. [199524]
Phil Hope: The information requested is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
Security: Greater London
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2008, Official Report, column 2846W, on security: Greater London, whether projects within the Government Security Zone include implementation of recommendations made by Project George. [198089]
Mr. Watson: The GSZ Programme is about the physical security of Government buildings within the zone. The Cabinet Office took into account the GSZ when planning and implementing refurbishment works to its Whitehall buildings.
Staff: 10 Downing Street
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people working in (a) Number 10 Downing Street and (b) the Cabinet Office are not employed by the Civil Service. [197497]
Phil Hope: The Prime Minister’s Office forms part of the Cabinet Office.
From latest available figures as at 31 December 2007, there were 87 members of staff (FTE) working in the Cabinet Office who are not employed by the civil service. This figure includes staff seconded in from outside the civil service, fee-paid staff, agency staff and consultants but excludes service contractors.
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