Skip to main content

Self-employed: Milton Keynes

Volume 506: debated on Monday 1 March 2010

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were recorded as self-employed in Milton Keynes in each year since 1997. (319009)

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

Letter from Dennis Roberts, dated February 2010:

The Director General for the Office for National Statistics has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were recorded as self-employed in Milton Keynes in each year since 1997. I am replying in his absence. (319009)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local

areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the Annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.

Table 1 shows the number of self-employed persons resident in Milton Keynes for the 12 month periods ending in February 1998 to 2004 from the Annual LFS and for the

12 month periods ending in March 2005 to 2009 from the APS. The latest available estimate, for the 12 months ending June 2009 from the APS, has also been included.

As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS and Annual LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in table 1.

National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Table 1: Number1 of self-employed persons resident in Milton Keynes

Thousand

February 1998

13

February 1999

10

February 2000

6

February 2001

8

February 2002

9

February 2003

10

February 2004

13

March 2005

12

March 2006

12

March 2007

12

March 2008

10

March 2009

12

June 2009

***11

1 Coefficients of Variation have been calculated as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below

Guide to Quality:

The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220

KEY Coefficient of Variation (CV)(%) Statistical Robustness

* 0 ≤ CV < 5 Estimates are considered precise

** 5 ≤ CV < 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise

*** 10 ≤ CV < 20 Estimates are considered acceptable

**** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes

Source:

Annual Population Survey/Annual Labour Force Survey