Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of literacy and numeracy on trends in unemployment in the Romford constituency in each of the last 10 years.

No assessment has been made of the effects of literacy and numeracy on trends in unemployment in the Romford constituency.

All claimants, including those in Romford, are screened by their Job Centre Plus Work Coaches for any barriers to employment that they face, including their literacy and numeracy skills.

In particular, the review of skills considers whether claimants have the basic skills employers require - including Maths and English (spoken and written).

Where needed, claimants can access or be referred to skills provision, with activities recorded in the Claimant Commitment.

Under this Government since 2010 unemployment across the country has fallen by nearly 1.2 million, with unemployment falling in every region and country of the UK.

In Jul 2009 - Jun 2010 the employment rate for Romford was estimated at 70.1%. In Jul 2018 – Jun 2019 the employment rate was estimated to be 72.6%.