Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in (a) York Central constituency and (b) City of York local authority area were claiming jobseeker's allowance per Jobcentre Plus vacancy in each year since May 2007.

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.

Jobcentre vancancies are just a part of total recruitment, missing jobs available in the wider labour market beyond the local constituency or authority, and those coming up through other recruitment channels or filled by direct approaches to employers or word of mouth. A snapshot of unfilled vacancies also misses the regular turnover of new vacancies that come up as existing opportunities are filled. Information on the number of unfilled vacancies held locally by Jobcentre Plus was collected until 2012 and the available information is shown in the table.

Jobseeker's Allowance caseload and unfilled Jobcentre Plus vacancies

The latest claimant count figures show the number of JSA claimants in York Central and York local authority has fallen to 1,345 and 1,790 respectively in May 2014.

Universal Jobmatch has replaced the previous Jobcentre Plus system of taking vacancies. Equivalent statistical information on vacancies available through the new service is not currently available. The ONS data shows that nationally there are well over 600,000 vacancies available at any one time. Vacancies available locally through Universal Jobmatch can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/jobsearch . Inputting a postcode, town or place in the appropriate box returns vacancies within a 20 mile radius. This can be further refined as necessary.