To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) unemployed people and (b) unemployed young people there are in the constituency of Wellingborough; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Stinchcombe, dated 22 February 2005

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. (216685)

It is estimated that for the 12-month period ending February 2004, there were 2,000 people resident in the Wellingborough Parliamentary Constituency who were unemployed. Of those an estimated 1,000 were aged 16–24 years old. These estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to sampling variability and rounded to the nearest thousand.

The Office for National Statistics also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for local areas. In December 2004, there were 1,085 residents of the Wellingborough Parliamentary Constituency who were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. Of these, 305 were aged 18 to 24.