To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies there were in Woking constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of live job vacancies in Ashfield constituency.

Headline figures on the number of unfilled vacancies at a point in time are published by the Office for National Statistics, based on a regular survey of employers. The sample size of the survey is, however, too small to allow information to be published below national level.

Administrative data on the number of unfilled vacancies held locally by Jobcentre Plus were published until the end of last year and can be accessed by following this link:

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/summary.asp?mode=construct&version=0&dataset=89 and selecting the ‘live unfilled’ vacancies variable and the relevant geography and time period.

Any snapshot of unfilled Jobcentre vacancies at a point in time misses the regular turnover of new vacancies that are notified as existing opportunities are filled. It also misses jobs available in the wider labour market, including those outside the local constituency, and those coming up through other recruitment channels or filled by direct approaches to employers or word of mouth.

Universal Jobmatch has replaced the previous Jobcentre Plus system of taking vacancies. Information on vacancies reported through the new service is not currently available for parliamentary constituencies. Some information, including notified vacancies at local authority level, is available from the Universal Jobmatch management information tool:

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/Reports/Reports.aspx and selecting number of new jobs and the relevant geography and time period. DWP is working with Monster Worldwide Limited, the Universal Jobmatch supplier, on a timetable for prioritising and implementing improvements to the available management information, including breakdowns by parliamentary constituency, subject to funding.