Research and analysis

DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment 2019 consultation response

Published 22 November 2023

Introduction

The DCMS Economic Estimates Employment consultation ran from Tuesday 13 August 2019 to Friday 15 November 2019 and received nine responses. This document summarises the consultation questions asked, the feedback DCMS received and sets out DCMS’s response.

Question 1:

If you have used the DCMS employment statistics, what did you use them for?

Summary of responses

The majority of responses cited research as the main use of the employment statistics.

DCMS response

We have amended the presentation of our statistics to improve the machine-readability of the data.

Question 2:

Which demographic breakdowns are you interested in? Please explain.

Summary of responses

The breakdowns of interest (in order of popularity) were:

• Region and devolved administration
• Working hours
• Ethnicity, Gender, and Nationality
• Age, Disability, and Socio-economic background

DCMS response

We have incorporated analysis of a new data source into our regular publication cycle to enable us to deliver estimates for all demographic breakdowns that were of interest.

Estimates for socio-economic class of current occupation are not currently included in the DCMS Employment estimates for 2021 and 2022 because the ONS has identified an issue with the way data has been assigned to the refreshed SOC2020 codes that are used to calculate occupation estimates. The ONS resolved this issue in July 2023 and estimates for socio-economic class will be published in due course.

Question 3:

Would you be interested in analysis on multiple breakdowns? For example, looking at DCMS sector employment by ethnicity and by gender. If yes, please indicate what multiple breakdowns you are interested in.

Summary of responses

Several respondents selected either “yes” or “maybe” as a response to a proposed analysis on multiple breakdowns. The details of breakdowns of interest were varied and many different combinations of characteristics were proposed.

DCMS response

As there was no clear preference for a particular combination or set of combinations, we will keep this under review and remain committed to providing ad-hoc breakdowns on request whenever possible.

Question 4:

Some granular breakdowns (e.g. employment by ethnicity and gender) may not be available or reliable enough if the sample size is low. If this is the case, we can create ‘pooled’ datasets from multiple years to raise the sample size. This would mean we can publish estimates for e.g. in three year brackets instead of every year. For each demographic breakdown of interest, how many years of data should be included for your purposes?

Summary of responses

There was no clear preference for the acceptable length of time lag for pooled datasets.

DCMS response

As there was no clear preference for a particular combination or set of combinations under Question 3, we will keep this under review and remain committed to providing ad-hoc breakdowns on request whenever possible.

Question 5:

Are there any other types of measures you would be interested in to see?  For example, looking at the number of jobs under zero-hour contracts. If yes, please indicate the measure. Estimates of employment are calculated from the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS). A detailed list of variables within the APS can be found in the Volume 6: APS user guide document.

Summary of responses

A minority of respondents indicated an interest in more information on the length and permanence of employment.

DCMS response

Experimental estimates of employment by length of time with current employer were relatively robust at sector level, but routinely failed disclosure control at subsector level. Based on this, we decided not to include them in our standard publications as an immediate priority, though welcome user feedback on whether these headlines would still be useful.

Question 6:

Currently, we publish data on what government office region DCMS sector employees work in. Would you have an interest in understanding commuting patterns for people working in DCMS sectors i.e. where they travel from?

Summary of responses

Several users indicated interest in commuting patterns.

DCMS response

We explored this further. Unfortunately, while current datasets contain information on both home and work location, we found that cross tabulations of these variables are disclosive and so we do not intend to include them as part of the standard employment releases.

Question 7:

Currently, the employment estimates are published annually. Would you prefer the data to be published more frequently?

Summary of responses

The majority of respondents requested more frequent publication of the employment estimates.

DCMS response

To meet this need, DCMS trialled a scaled back quarterly version of the employment release in 2021 and continues to publish rolling 12 month quarterly employment estimates on a routine basis.

Question 8:

Are you aware of any other data sources on employment in DCMS Sectors?

Summary of responses

A couple of respondents recommended additional data sources from the following organisations: Creative and Cultural Skills, ScreenSkills, and UK Screen Alliance.

DCMS response

DCMS has investigated the suggested data sources. While it is helpful to be aware of these additional data sources, we do not intend to use these data sources within our official statistics so that we can align with ONS methods for the wider economy. However, DCMS has expanded the range of employment estimates that it can provide by incorporating data from rotating modules in the Labour Force Survey.

Question 9:

Do you have any other feedback regarding the publication or the analysis?

Summary of responses

There were no further suggestions.

DCMS response

Not applicable