Chancellor stresses labour market difficulties are 'too big' to 'hang around' for better ONS statistics

Economic Affairs Committee hearing

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the scale of the challenges with the Office of National Statistics' (ONS) labour market figures is “so big”, that the government should not “hang around” for better statistics.

In an Economic Affairs Committee hearing yesterday (19 March), Hunt was questioned as part of his annual scrutiny session with the committee. One of the points he was quizzed on was the labour market impact of the government's migration and welfare policies, as well as the National Insurance cuts announced in November's Autumn Statement and the Spring Budget earlier this month. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that the combined impact of the National Insurance cuts will increase the labour supply by an estimated 199,000 in full-time equivalent terms. Hunt was ask...