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20 July 2009 : Column 1041W—continued

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Employment: Hertfordshire

Mike Penning: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many people were self-employed in (a) Hemel Hempstead constituency, (b) Dacorum and (c) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997; [287860]

(2) how many people have claimed jobseeker's allowance in (a) Hemel Hempstead constituency, (b) Dacorum and (c) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997. [287857]

Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking how may people were self-employed in (a) Hemel Hempstead, (b) Dacorum and (c) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997; and how many people have claimed jobseeker's allowance in (a) Hemel Hempstead, (b) Dacorum and (c) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997. (287860, 287857)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the Annual Labour Force Survey (LFS). The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance is compiled from Jobcentre Plus administrative data.

Table 1 shows the number of self-employed people resident in Hertfordshire in each year. Estimates for self-employed people for Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum are not available.

Table 2 shows the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance resident in the requested areas for June of each year since 1997.

National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment and unemployment, are available from the NOMIS website at:

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

20 July 2009 : Column 1043W

Table 1: Number of self-employed( 1) people resident in Hertfordshire in each year since 1997
Thousand
12 months ending:	Hertfordshire
February 1998	69
February 1999	75
February 2000	68
February 2001	68
February 2002	69
February 2003	72
February 2004	80
December 2004	79
December 2005	76
December 2006	78
December 2007	86
December 2008(2)	**91
(1) People in employment who are self employed aged 16 and over. (2) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality following.
Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV-for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 ≤ CV <5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes Source: Annual Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey

Table 2: Number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance resident in Hemel Hempstead, Dacorum and Hertfordshire
Thousand
As at June each year	Hemel Hempstead	Dacorum	Hertfordshire
1997	1	2	14
1998	1	1	10
1999	1	1	9
2000	1	1	8
2001	1	1	7
2002	1	1	8
2003	1	1	9
2004	1	1	8
2005	1	1	9
2006	1	2	10
2007	1	1	9
2008	1	1	8
2009	2	3	19
Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative system

Islamic Bank of Britain

Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the Charity Commission has had recent discussions with representatives of Lloyds Banking Group on the Group's decision to order the Islamic Bank of Britain to cease processing payments for Interpal. [288312]

Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.

Letter from Andrew Hind, July 2009:

As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on whether the Charity Commission has had any recent discussions with representatives of Lloyds Banking Group on the Group's decision to order the Islamic Bank of Britain to cease processing payments for Interpal.

In response to your question, the Commission has not had any recent discussions relating to this decision. The decision made by Lloyds Banking Group is not one in which the Commission can become directly involved or seek to influence, as it is a business decision for any bank as a supplier of financial services as to whom they offer those services. However, the Commission as regulator is clear that in order to operate effectively and transparently when delivering aid or other charitable work, every charity must
20 July 2009 : Column 1044W
have access to banking services. We would have serious concern if a charity were not able to operate for lack of a bank account, because of the harm that could result to its charitable work and its ability to operate transparently.

The Commission does on occasion engage with the banking industry generally in the course of its business, and has held discussions with the banking industry in relation to a number of issues affecting charities including the impact of overseas countries designation lists.

I hope this is helpful.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Chelmsford

Mr. Burns: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of young people aged between 18 and 24 years old resident in the Chelmsford local authority area claimed jobseeker's allowance in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2009 to date. [287045]

Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of young people aged between 18 and 24 years old resident in the Chelmsford local authority area claimed jobseeker's allowance in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2009 to date. (287045)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles the number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. Table 1 shows the number and percentage of persons aged 18-24 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in each month since January 2004.

National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

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Table 1: number of persons aged 18-24 resident in Chelmsford claiming Jobseeker's Allowance
	Chelmsford
Date	Number( 1)	Percentage( 2)
January 2004	295	2.2
February 2004	315	2.4
March 2004	325	2.5
April 2004	290	2.2
May 2004	245	1.8
June 2004	220	1.7
July 2004	235	1.8
August 2004	280	2.1
September 2004	275	2.1
October 2004	265	2.0
November 2004	240	1.8
December 2004	255	1.9
January 2005	305	2.3
February 2005	320	2.4
March 2005	300	2.2
April 2005	315	2.4
May 2005	315	2.3
June 2005	310	2.3
July 2005	325	2.4
August 2005	365	2.7
September 2005	355	2.7
October 2005	345	2.6
November 2005	340	2.5
December 2005	355	2.7
January 2006	400	3.0
February 2006	430	3.2
March 2006	410	3.0
April 2006	435	3.2
May 2006	380	2.8
June 2006	340	2.5
July 2006	400	3.0
August 2006	400	3.0
September 2006	405	3.0
October 2006	375	2.8
November 2006	385	2.8
December 2006	365	2.7
January 2007	395	2.9
February 2007	425	3.1
March 2007	425	3.1
April 2007	430	3.1
May 2007	400	2.9
June 2007	375	2.7
July 2007	380	2.8
August 2007	380	2.8
September 2007	370	2.7
October 2007	350	2.6
November 2007	335	2.4
December 2007	325	2.4
January 2008	345	2.5
February 2008	350	2.6
March 2008	325	2.4
April 2008	300	2.2
May 2008	305	2.2
June 2008	295	2.2
July 2008	340	2.5
August 2008	385	2.8
September 2008	415	3.0
October 2008	430	3.2
November 2008	515	3.8
December 2008	530	3.9
January 2009	625	4.6
February 2009	770	5.6
March 2009	785	5.7
April 2009	825	6.0
May 2009	835	6.1
June 2009	785	5.7
(1) Data rounded to nearest 5 (2) Percentage of 18-24 years olds claiming jobseeker's allowance Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative system

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