My MP has forwarded to me the response she received
to the enquiry I requested she put to the Chancellor regarding the basis of the
Government’s claims of growth in private sector employment since May 2010.
Since I received the response, a few days ago, I
believe I have heard John Redwood on Any Questions on BBC Radio 4 claim that
1.5 million jobs have been created in the private sector since May 2010, a 50% increase
on claims made only weeks before by the Chancellor and Prime Minister.
The response was supplied by Lord Deighton
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury.
The figures supplied were a sample of the figures
published by the Office for National Statistics at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/search/index.html?newquery=EMP02dealing
with the years 2010 to 2013.
There was no attempt to provide any breakdown by
region, by employment sector, or by type of contract (e.g. full time, part
time, zero hours, temporary, etc.). But
looking at the notes included at the bottom of the table, and not referenced by
Lord Deighton:
- I am reminded that public sector employment was increased by the reclassification of the employees of Northern Rock (October 2007), the Bank of England (February 2008), Bradford and Bingley plc (September 2008) and the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank (October 2008) as public sector. Northern Rock employees have since been reclassified back to the private sector (December 2011).
- From June 2012, some 196,000 people employed by further and sixth form colleges were reclassified from the public to the private sector.
- Numbers are based on estimates; public sector employment is based on estimates by public sector organisations, private sector based on the limited data provided by the Labour Force Survey up to 2010, there is no indication of the basis of private sector employment estimates after 2010, but if it is based on the same, or similar survey data, then the sample is limited, so limited that at a regional or employment sector level the sample may not be reliable.
Lord Deighton's letter also
refers to the Private Sector Employment Indicator (PSEI) on the BIS
website for February to April 2013 and refers to a one percent increase in private sector employment nationally:
Similar
growth in employment is claimed for each region. That growth is of course from different
baselines. The Infographic at:
This I note divides England into two sectors; The
Greater South East (London the South East and East of England) with private
sector employment at 61.3% of the working age population, and The Rest of
England with private sector employment at 56.6%. It is interesting that that each of these
groupings includes one of the regions that has seen greatest growth in private
sector employment (London, and Yorkshire and Humber) and one of the two regions
that has seen a small decline in private sector employment (the East of England
and the East Midlands).
The rationale for this division into two groups of
regions is to minimise the effect on the data of commuting. One wonders whether a significant amount of
inter-regional commuting actually takes place other than the broader London
commuter hinterland which would include areas of the South East and East of
England.
The Government’s concerns are to demonstrate growth
in private sector employment and a re-balancing of employment from public
sector to private sector. It is less
concerned with evidencing what sort of employment is being generated (e.g. full
time, part time, zero hours, etc.) and in what employment sectors (e.g.
manufacturing, hospitality, financial services, etc.).
Conclusion:
I do not feel much trust can be placed in the
Government’s headline figures or that the Government knows, with accuracy, how much private sector growth there has been, or that it is much concerned with what quality of employment is being generated by the early stages of
recovery. They are concerned to give the best interpretation of what they do know.
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