To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of (a) 16 and 17-year-olds and (b) 18 to 24-year-olds of each sex were not in education, employment or training in the latest period for which figures are available. (185384)

[holding answer 7 February 2008]: Estimates of participation in education, training and employment for those aged 16-18 are published annually by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DGSF) in a Statistical First release (SFR) each June. The most recent SFR relates to end 2006 and can be found at the following link:

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000734/index.shtml

Table 1 shows the numbers and proportions of academic age 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England at end 2006.

The DGSF does not publish estimates of those NEET above academic age 18. However, it is possible to produce estimates for 18 to 24-year-olds from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Estimates for England from the LFS, relating to the first quarter of 2007, are shown in Table 2. It is important to note that the LFS will not produce estimates that directly match those from the Department's Participation SFR, and that they will be subject to sampling error and respondent error. The LFS estimates of population size by cohort also differ from the Participation SFR. LFS estimates are also provided for young people of academic age 16-18 for comparison with the Department's estimates above.