§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Prime Minister what are the latest figures available for gross average earnings in(a) Scotland, (b) rural Scotland and (c) Great Britain.
The Prime Minister The information available from the Department of Employment's new earnings survey is given below. As the survey does not provide results for areas within the regions of Scotland, it is not possible to provide estimates for rural Scotland. The regions given below are mainly rural; other Scottish regions have rural areas but also include large urban areas.
478W
Average Gross Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Employees on Adult Rates Whose Pay for the Survey Pay-period Was Not Affected by Absence April 1988 £ per week men women Scotland 233.3 152.2 Borders Region n/a n/a Dumfries and Galloway Region 205.3 n/a
April 1988 £ per week men women Highland Region 224.2 137.3 Island Authorities n/a n/a Great Britain 245.8 164.2 As the survey covers a sample of about 1 per cent. of employees who are members of PAYE schemes for tax purposes, it does not cover, for example, the self-employed or those earning less than the PAYE limit, and cannot provide reliable estimates for every region of Scotland.