Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the Office for Statistics Regulation's publication entitled OSR’s statement on the Labour Force Survey-derived estimates and Annual Population Survey-derived estimates, published on 12 December 2024.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) remains subject to a number of quality concerns following a fall in response rates and are currently badged as official statistics in development.
As set out in its December 2024 Labour Market Overview,[1] the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recommend using LFS data alongside other labour market indicators, including Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real-Time Information (RTI) and Workforce Jobs (WFJ).
The ONS are continuing to improve the quality of the LFS, as described in its latest report LFS performance and quality monitoring report,[2] and have carried out a reweighting of LFS estimates, detailed in its December 2024 article[3], that has brought them into line with the ONS’ latest population numbers. The ONS is continuing to develop the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) as the long-term solution for collecting labour market data [4].
2 LFS performance and quality monitoring report: July to September 2024
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed alignment of the Retail Prices Index methodology with the Consumer Prices Index, including owner occupier housing costs from February 2030 on (a) wage-setting and (b) private sector pension benefit uprating.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The alignment of the methods and data sources of the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs into the Retail Price Index (RPI) reflects the flaws in RPI which can either overstate or understates price changes. The Bank of England will assess if these changes significantly impact certain index-linked gilt holders.
The Government recognises the widespread use of RPI and that there are potential impacts from the reform. Whilst there is legislation around the minimum indexation requirements for defined benefit schemes, scheme rules will determine how any pensioners' benefits are increased each year.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility will publish a revised 5-year wage-growth forecast in their next Economic and Fiscal Outlook, considering all relevant factors.