§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of the average rates of pay for underground mineworkers, policemen, firemen and the average full-time male worker in manufacturing industry for each of the last 10 years, expressed at current values and as an index taking 1967 as the base, together with the annual increase in the retail price index on a similar base of 1967.
§ Mr. Golding, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 8th November 1977; Vol. 938, col. 57–58], gave the following information:
The results of the New Earnings Survey include the following. They are estimates of the average weekly earnings of men aged 21 and over whose pay for the survey reference April pay period was not affected by absence. They are gross amounts, before deduction of income tax and social security payments, and do not include the value of benefits in kind. They are subject to sampling errors. Some of the groups may have had pay increases shortly before the survey returns were completed—e.g. coal miners in 1975—and some shortly afterwards—e.g. the police in 1977.
Changes in the purchasing power of earnings depend on the income tax and social security payments of individuals according to their circumstances as well as movements in retail prices of goods and services.
383W
384W
AVERAGE GROSS WEEKLY EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME MEN AGED 21 AND OVER WHOSE PAY WAS NOT AFFECTED BY ABSENCE IN APRIL OF EACH YEAR 1970£ 1971£ 1972£ 1973£ 1974£ 1975£ 1976£ 1977£ Coalmining industry All manual occupations … … … … 26.10 29.60 34.50 39.70 50.20 72.90 77.70 81.90 Underground coalminers* … … … 27.20 30.20 34.80 Not available Face-trained coalminers* … … … Not available 41.80 51.30 74.50 80.70 84.90 All underground manual workers† … … Not available 51.90 75.80 80.20 85.10 Police service pay agreements‡§ All reported to be affected by the agreements 31.00 35.70 43.20 49.80 53.00 71.20 86.90 88.40 Policemen (below sergeant)* … … … Not available 44.90 48.10 64.10 78.50 80.50 Fire services NJC agreements‡ § All reported to be affected by the agreements 30.60 33.70 40.20 43.60 51.50 65.30 69.70 74.90 Firemen … … … … … … 28.30 31.30 37.50 39.60 48.70 62.00 65.00 69.80 All manufacturing industries Manual occupations … … … … 28.50 31.10 34.50 39.90 45.10 56.60 67.40 74.20 Non-manual occupations … … … 36.70 39.70 43.80 48.70 54.50 68.70 80.90 88.90 All occupations … … … … … 30.90 33.50 37.10 42.30 47.70 60.20 71.40 78.50 * The occupational classification was changed after the 1972 survey. Up to 1972, the NES occupational heading "underground coal-miner" excluded supervisory workers but covered a wider range of workers than "faced-trained workers". The latter are separately identified in the List of Key Occupations introduced generally for official occupational statistics from 1973. † Including supervisory workers and others not classified to the "coal-miner" occupational heading. ‡ Local authority employees (including police and fire services) were under-represented in the 1974 survey, due to difficulties connected with local government reorganisation. § A few employees indirectly affected by the pay agreement, but not employed by local authorities, may be covered by the estimates for the police service and fire services.