To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people aged 17 to 25 years are claiming the jobseeker's allowance in Portsmouth; and what this figure is as a percentage of all those in the age group. [4741]
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 27 June 1997:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many people aged 17 to 25 years are claiming the Jobseeker's Allowance in Portsmouth and what this figure is as a percentage of all those in the age group.
The numbers of claimants are collated by two age groupings: 17 to 24 and 25 to 29 year olds. The table below show the number of claimants at the April 1997 count.
In the Parliamentary Constituency of Portsmouth South, the numbers were:
Claimants
| Male
| Female
| Total
|
| Aged 17–24 | 771 | 288 | 1,059 |
| Aged 25–29 | 608 | 133 | 741 |
In the Parliamentary Constituency of Portsmouth North, the numbers were:
Claimants
| Male
| Female
| Total
|
| Aged 17–24 | 572 | 193 | 765 |
| Aged 25–29 | 344 | 79 | 423 |
In the Local Authority Area of Portsmouth the numbers were:
Claimants
| Male
| Female
| Total
|
| Aged 17–24 | 1,255 | 450 | 1,705 |
| Aged 25–29 | 901 | 201 | 1,102 |
Unfortunately, a percentage of 17–24 year unemployed claimants as a proportion of the entire workforce in that age group cannot be given, due to the age criteria used to compile the Population Census survey. However, I give below figures of all young people by available age group:
Portsmouth South—Workforce
| |||
Age group
| Male
| Female
| Total
|
| 16–17 | 862 | 808 | 1,670 |
| 18–19 | 1,414 | 1,169 | 2,583 |
| 20–24 | 4,816 | 4,604 | 9,420 |
| 25–29 | 4,933 | 4,558 | 9,491 |
Portsmouth North-Workforce
| |||
Age group
| Male
| Female
| Total
|
| 16–17 | 1,348 | 1,246 | 2,594 |
| 18–19 | 1,402 | 1,359 | 2,761 |
| 20–24 | 3,793 | 3,825 | 7,618 |
| 25–29 | 4,224 | 4,479 | 8,703 |
Portsmouth Local Authority Area
| |||
Age group
| Male
| Female
| Total
|
| 16–17 | 1,907 | 1,746 | 3,653 |
| 18–19 | 2,484 | 2,203 | 4,687 |
| 20–24 | 7,919 | 7,736 | 15,655 |
| 25–29 | 8,439 | 8,212 | 16,651 |
Source: 1991 Census of Population.
I hope this is helpful.