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Written question asked by Nicholas Winterton (Conservative) on Monday, 8 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 December 2008. It was answered by Lord Brennan of Canton (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 December 2008 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Textiles: Manpower

Question
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people are employed in the (a) weaving, (b) spinning, (c) dying, (d) finishing and making-up and (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry.
Answer

I have been asked to reply.The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on how many people were employed in the (a) weaving, (b) spinning, (c) dying, (d) finishing and making-up and (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry. (242414)""Table 1 attached, shows the number of employee jobs in the weaving, spinning, finishing and making-up, and silk industries in Great Britain in 2006.""Estimates of employment are usually provided using the Labour Force Survey. However because of the interest in industrial sector, your question has been answered using the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), which provides estimates at the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC03) level.""The ABI is a business survey which provides estimates of employment according to the number of jobs. The estimates exclude people who are self-employed workers in the industry sectors requested. Please note that dyeing employment estimates cannot be provided separately using 4-digit SIC03, and estimates for the silk industry are also included under weaving and spinning.""As with any sample survey, estimates from the Annual Business Inquiry are subject to margins of uncertainty."

Table 1: Number of employee jobs in selected clothing and textile industries¹, 2006 Great Britain
Thousand
Weaving² 7
Spinning³ 5
Finishing and Making-up4 86
Silk5 3
¹ Using four-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC03)
² The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1721-1725 (which includes weaving of silk)
³ The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1711-1717 (which includes spinning of silk)
4 The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1740-1830
5 The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1715 and 1724
Source:
Annual Business Inquiry

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
485 c868W; 242414
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Staff Textiles
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk