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Sir Hugh Bayley MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
March 2015
Dear Sir Bayley,
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary
Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (a) how many people and (b) what
proportion of the workforce were employed on zero hours contracts in (i) York Central constituency, (ii) City of York
local authority area, (iii) England and (iv) the UK in 2010 and each subsequent year; and what the average number of
hours worked each week by such people was in each such year. (227990)
Information regarding people in employment on a zero-hours contract and their characteristics are available from the
Labour Force Survey (LFS) at a national level. Unfortunately sample sizes from the LFS are not sufficient to allow for a
breakdown by constituency or local authority. However it is possible to provide the level and the average weekly hours
worked of people employed on a zero-hours contract for England and the UK.
The figures in this analysis are calculated from responses to the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As part of the survey, the
LFS asks people in employment if their job has flexible working and if so to choose from a list of employment patterns
those which best describe their situation. Only those people who select "zero-hours contract" as an option will be
included in this analysis. The number of people who are shown as on a zero-hours contract will therefore be affected
by whether people know they are on a zero-hours contract and will be affected by how aware they are of the concept.
The increased coverage of zero-hours in the latter half of 2013 is likely to have affected the response to this question.
The table provides these estimates for the most recent quarter (October to December 2014) and the corresponding
quarter in the previous years from 2010.
The LFS estimate differs from some of the other figures in the public domain that come from surveys of businesses.
The ONS own survey of businesses, first published on 30th April 2014, aims to produce an estimate of “zero-hours
contracts” that complements the existing LFS estimates and can also be compared to other employer estimates.
Estimates from the business survey are higher than those from the LFS - but cannot provide the demographic
information offered by the LFS - as explained in the report: Analysis of Labour Force Survey estimates of people in
employment reporting a zero-hours contract, April to June 2014 published on the ONS website.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. An indication of the quality
of the estimates provided is given in the table. In addition, there is likely to be a degree of reporting error in these
estimates as explained above.
Yours sincerely,
Glen Watson
Director General for ONS
People aged 16 and over employed on a zero-hours contract
October to December, 2010 to 2014
Not seasonally adjusted
UK
England
2010
Percentage of
Average (mean)
people in
actual weekly
employment on
hours worked
a zero hour
contract
168 **
0.6
21.9
2011
190 **
0.6
21.3
161 **
2012
252 **
0.8
20.6
218 **
2013
586 *
1.9
21.3
504 *
2014
697 *
2.3
22.6
598 *
In employment
on a zero hour
contract
(thousands)
In employment
on a zero hour
contract
(thousands)
151 **
Percentage of
people in
employment
on a zero hour
contract
Average (mean)
actual weekly
hours worked
0.6
0.6
0.9
2.0
22.8
2.3
22.3
21.9
20.4
21.7
Source: Labour Force Survey
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 180220.
KEY
*
Coefficient of
Variation (CV) (%)
0 ≤ CV < 5
**
5 ≤ CV < 10
***
10 ≤ CV < 20
****
CV ≥ 20
Statistical Robustness
Estimates are considered precise.
Estimates are considered reasonably
precise.
Estimates are considered acceptable.
Estimates should be used with caution and, in
some cases may be unreliable for practical
purposes.