To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of (a) population and (b) household changes in (i) Birmingham and (ii) Worcestershire over the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [12194]
Population estimates and projections are the responsibility of the Office for National Statistics—formerly the Office for Population Censuses and Surveys. The projections of the numbers of the households, which uses this information are the responsibility of my Department.Populations and household projections for Worcestershire alone are not available as it was not a separate county at the time the most recent projections were made. The population and household projections over the next 10 years for both the metropolitan district of Birmingham and the county of Hereford and Worcester are as follows:
| 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | |
| Population1(thousands) | |||
| Birmingham | 1,008 | 1,006 | 1,002 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 708 | 731 | 751 |
| Households2(thousands) | |||
| Birmingham | 402 | 408 | 416 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 285 | 301 | 317 |
Source:
1 "1993-based Subnational population projections", OPCS Series PP3 number 9,1994.
2 "Projections of Households in England to 2016", DoE 1995.