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2 Dec 2009 : Column 771W—continued

Housing Benefit

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in each tenure group were in receipt of (a) housing benefit and (b) council tax benefit in May (i) 2001, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2009; and what the annualised cost was of each benefit at those dates. [303388]

Helen Goodman: Information on council tax benefit is not available broken down by tenure type. The available information is in the following tables.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 772W

Number of housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients in Great Britain by tenure: May 2001 and May 2005
	Housing benefit (HB)				Council tax benefit
	Total HB	Social rented	Private rented	Other	All council tax benefit
2001	3,874,400	3,131,140	743,260	-	4,673,370
2005	3,956,820	3,165,890	790,930	-	4,959,690
Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated. 4. Housing Benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases. 5. Council Tax Benefit figures exclude Second Adult Rebates. 6. - represents nil or negligible. Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System quarterly 100 per cent. and taken in May 2001 and May 2005.

Number of housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients in Great Britain by tenure: May 2009
	Total HB	Social rented	Private rented	Other	Council tax benefit
2009	4,412,990	3,186,400	1,221,420	5,170	5,444,060
Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated. 4. Housing Benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases. 5. Council Tax Benefit figures exclude Second Adult Rebates. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) taken in May 2009.

Expenditure on housing benefit by tenancy type, and council tax benefit, cash terms
£ millions
	2001-02	2005-06	2009-10 forecast
Local authority	5,282	5,263	5,816
Registered social landlord	3,486	4,959	7,588
Private renter	2,827	3,723	6,248
Total housing benefit	11,596	13,945	19,652
Council tax benefit	2,686	3,774	4,648

2 Dec 2009 : Column 773W

Expenditure on housing benefit, split by tenancy type, and council tax benefit real terms, 2009-10 prices
£ millions
	2001-02	2005-06	2009-10 forecast
Local authority	6,424	5,753	5,816
Registered social landlord	4,239	5,421	7,588
Private renter	3,438	4,070	6,248
Total housing benefit	14,101	15,245	19,652
Council tax benefit	3,266	4,126	4,648
Notes: 1. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit expenditure are only available for full financial years. 2. Figures for 2009-10 are Budget 2009 forecasts. 3. Figures include all expenditure, whether funded by central or local government. Housing Benefit expenditure includes Discretionary Housing Payments. 4. Updated forecasts, and actual expenditure for 2008-09 will be published following the 2009 pre-Budget report. 5. Real terms figures are in 2009-10 prices, and derived using the Budget 2009 GDP deflator. 6. Historic and forecast expenditure for housing benefit and council tax benefit can be found on the internet at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/medium_term.asp Source: Local Authority Subsidy returns and Budget 2009 forecasts.

Housing Benefit: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in the (a) owner occupation, (b) social rented and (c) private rented accommodation sector in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne were in receipt of (i) housing benefit and (ii) council tax benefit in May (A) 2001, (B) 2005 and (C) 2009. [303426]

Helen Goodman: Housing benefit is not paid to owner-occupiers. Council tax benefit information is not available by tenure type.

The available information is in the following tables.

Number of housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients in Newcastle upon Tyne by tenure: May 2001 and May 2005
	Housing benefit (HB)				Council tax benefit
	All HB	Social rented	Private rented	Other	All council tax benefit
May 2001	32,360	27,020	5,340	-	35,380
May 2005	29,090	24,670	4,420	-	33,020
Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Housing Benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases. 4. Council Tax Benefit figures exclude Second Adult Rebates. 5. - represents nil or negligible. 6. 'Owner/Occupier' tenure type is not available from the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System data source. Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System quarterly 100 per cent. taken in May 2001 and May 2005.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 774W

Number of housing benefit and council tax benefit recipients in Newcastle upon Tyne by tenure: May 2001 and May 2005
	Housing benefit (HB)				Council tax benefit
	All HB	Social rented	Private rented	Other	All council tax benefit
May 2009	29,990	25,040	4,940	10	33,690
Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. 3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated. 4. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 5. Housing Benefit figures exclude any Extended Payment cases. 6. Council Tax Benefit figures exclude Second Adult Rebates. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) taken in May 2009.

Job Vacancies

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vacancies for (a) all jobs, (b) jobs of less than 16 hours a week and (c) jobs of 16 to 30 hours a week there were in each region and country of the UK in the latest period for which figures are available. [302455]

Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.

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

Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many vacancies for (a) all jobs (b) jobs of less than 16 hours a week and (c) jobs of 16 to 30 hours a week there were in each region and country of the UK in the latest period for which figures are available (302455).

The Office for National Statistics measures the number of vacancies in the UK using the ONS Vacancy Survey. There were an estimated 428,000 vacancies in the UK in the period August to October 2009 (seasonally adjusted). Estimates of the number of vacancies in regions and countries of the UK are not available from this source.

An alternative source of data is the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. This data only includes job vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus and so is inconsistent with the UK estimates from the ONS Vacancy Survey, which covers a wider range of vacancies. However, geographical breakdowns of Jobcentre Plus data are available, apart from Northern Ireland.

Neither the ONS Vacancy Survey nor the Jobcentre Plus administrative data give details of whether vacancies are for less than 16 hours a week or between 16 and 30 hours a week. However, the Jobcentre Plus administrative data does give a split between full-time jobs, defined as 30 or more hours a week, and part-time jobs, defined as less than 30 hours a week.

Table 1, attached, shows the number of live unfilled job vacancies held by Jobcentre Plus for each English region, Scotland, Wales and Great Britain for October 2009. The table also shows the number of live unfilled vacancies that are for full-time and for part-time jobs.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 775W

Table 1: Number of full-time and part-time( 1) job vacancies( 2) in English regions, Wales, Scotland and Great Britain
Not seasonally adjusted
	October 2009
	Total vacancies	Full-time	Part-Time
North East	10,590	6,920	3,670
North West	35,925	25,322	10,603
Yorkshire and the Humber	23,456	15,818	7,638
East Midlands	28,058	21,500	6,558
West Midlands	27,436	20,101	7,335
East	24,451	16,266	8,185
London	25,695	19,243	6,452
South East	35,731	24,983	10,748
South West	26,293	16,883	9,410
Wales	13,736	9,409	4,327
Scotland	19,335	12,006	7,329
Great Britain	270,706	188,451	82,255
(1 )Full-time vacancies are for jobs involving 30 or more hours per week, part-time vacancies are for jobs involving less than 30 hours per week. (2 )Job vacancies for English regions, Scotland, Wales and Great Britain are live unfilled vacancies from Jobcentre Plus administrative data. These are inconsistent with UK figures from the ONS Vacancy Survey, which covers a wider range of vacancies. Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative data

Unemployment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of those classified as economically inactive were (a) students and (b) on long-tern sickness leave in each of the last 10 years. [302353]

Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.

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

Letter from Jil Matheson, dated November 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many of those classified as economically inactive were (a) students and (b) on long-term sickness leave in each of the last 10 years. (302353)

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