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20 Apr 2009 : Column 360W—continued
Opinion Leader Research: Complaints
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) when the Central Office of Information was first informed by Opinion Leader Research about the complaint against Opinion Leader Research made to the Market Research Standards Board by Greenpeace; [267088]
(2) whether the Central Office of Information has been involved in any submissions to the Market Research Standards Board made by or on behalf of Opinion Leader Research; and whether it has made submissions to the Market Research Standards Board regarding Greenpeace's complaint against Opinion Leader Research; [267089]
(3) whether the Central Office of Information has made representations to (a) Opinion Leader Research and (b) the Market Research Standards Board (MRSB) on the (i) timing and (ii) publication of the MRSB's decision about Greenpeace's complaint against Opinion Leader Research; [267090]
(4) how many meetings took place between the Central Office of Information and (a) Opinion Leader Research and (b) the Market Research Standards Board in relation to Greenpeace's complaint against Opinion Leader Research; on what dates those meetings took place; and who attended each meeting; [267091]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Central Office of Information. I have asked the chief executive to reply.
Letter from Peter Buchanan, dated March 2009:
As Acting Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions [267088, 267089, 267090 and 267091] on a complaint made against Opinion Leader Research.
The Central Office of Information was first made aware by Opinion Leader Research of the complaint made against them to the Market Research Standards Board by Greenpeace on the 19 September 2007.
The Central Office of Information has made two submissions to the MRSB regarding Greenpeace's complaint against Opinion Leader Research. At the request of Opinion Leader Research, the Central Office of Information also provided information and comments on their submissions.
The Central Office of Information made no representations to Opinion Leader Research or the Market Research Standards Board about the timing or publication of the decision about Greenpeace's complaint.
The Central Office of Information had two meetings with Opinion Leader Research and BERR on 17 October 2007 and 28 February 2008. The following attended these meetings Hergen Haye, Fiona Wood and Brian Parry. The meetings also included other junior officials from both BERR and the Central Office of Information. The Central Office of Information also attended a meeting between Opinion Leader Research and the Market Research Standards Board on 22 October 2007. Fiona Wood attended this meeting on behalf of the Central Office of Information.
Regional Ministers
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the Permanent Secretary of his Department has authorised expenditure on travel costs for the Parliamentary assistants to (a) the Minister for the West Midlands and (b) the Minister for London in accordance with the circumstances envisaged in the Cabinet Secretary's letter to Permanent Secretaries of 2 December 2008. [267156]
Mr. Byrne: No travel costs have been incurred by the Cabinet Office for the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister for the West Midlands. The Minister for London is not a Minister in the Cabinet Office.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps the Cabinet Secretary has taken to inform the Director of the Government Office in each region of the provisions of his letter to Permanent Secretaries of 2 December 2008 in respect of the circumstances in which a Department may pay the travel costs of a Parliamentary assistant to a Regional Minister; and if he will make a statement. [267161]
Mr. Byrne: The Cabinet Secretary’s letter of 2 December 2008 to permanent secretaries was copied to regional directors of the Government offices.
Somalia
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many Somali citizens are resident in the UK. [269752]
Kevin Brennan: 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 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your question concerning how many Somali citizens are currently resident in the United Kingdom. (269752)
The Office for National Statistics collects data on nationality from the Annual Population Survey, which is the Labour Force Survey (LFS) plus various sample boosts, which covers residents of the UK. The latest estimates available are for the 12 month period of July 2007 to June 2008, these show that the estimated number of UK residents with Somalian nationality was 71,000. The margin of error around this estimate is +/- 11,000. It should be noted that the LFS:-
excludes students in halls who do not have a UK resident parent
excludes people in most other types of communal establishments (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites, etc)
is grossed to population estimates of those living in private households that only include migrants staying for 12 months or more.
Unemployment
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people were (a) claiming jobseeker’s allowance and (b) unemployed according to the International Labour Organisation definitions in each quarter since 1979. [268743]
Kevin Brennan: 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 2009:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were (a) claiming jobseeker’s allowance and (b) unemployed according to the International Labour Organisation survey in each quarter since 1979. (268743)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Survey (LPS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
Table 1 shows the number of people who were unemployed in each quarter since 1979. It also shows the number of persons who were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and its predecessors adjusted on a consistent basis.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty, shown in a footnote to the table.
| Table 1: Number of persons unemployed or claiming jobseeker’s allowance | |
| Unemployed | |
| Thousand (seasonally adjusted) | |
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