§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many(a) establishments and (b) employees were covered by wages councils in each standard region in (i) 1979, (ii) 1986, (iii) 1989 and (iv) 1991; and what percentage of the working population this represents in each region.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe available estimates, which are for wages inspectorate divisions in 1989 and 1992, are given in the following table. I regret that data on a consistent basis are not available for 1979 and 1986.
(a) number of workers (000s) Wages inspectorate division 1989 1992 Southern: London 367 330 South East 268 275 East 233 253 South West1 318 360 Midlands 380 411 North West1 335 345 Yorkshire and Humberside 214 225 North 133 140 Scotland 224 220
(b) number of establishments (000s) Wages inspectorate division 1989 1992 Southern: London 56 51 South East 41 43 East 36 39 South West1 49 56 Midlands 58 64 North West1 51 54 Yorkshire and Humberside 33 35 North 20 22 Scotland 34 35 1 North Wales is covered by the North West Division and South Wales by the South West Division. There are no estimates of the percentage which these figures represent of the working population in each of the wages inspectorate's divisions but about 10 per cent. of the Great Britain work force are employed in industries covered by wages councils.