HC Deb 18 January 2001 vol 361 cc301-2W
Mr. Grieve

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of workers on adult rates of pay in part-time employment have hourly earnings(a) including and (b) excluding overtime pay that are less than (i) £4.94, (ii) £6.58, (iii) £7.18 and (iv) £3.60 in (A) Scotland, (B) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (C) the UK, broken down by (1) male manual, (2) male non-manual, (3) all male workers, (4) female workers, (5) female non-manual, (6) all female workers, (7) all manual, (8) all non-manual and (9) all workers. [145666]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Dominic Grieve, dated 17 January 2001: The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on hourly earnings for workers in Scotland, the unitary authorities in Scotland and the United Kingdom (145666). I am replying in his absence. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published estimates of the number of jobs paid at less than specific hourly low pay thresholds for all workers in the United Kingdom for Spring 2000, disaggregated by gender and full and part time. These estimates are based on an improved methodology using data from the New Earnings Survey (NES) and Labour Force Survey (LFS). This methodology provides the best estimates for the number of jobs in the UK paid below low hourly rate thresholds. These estimates are posted on the National Statistics website at: www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/labour—market/nmw—lowpay—tables.asp. The improved methodology has been developed to overcome the deficiencies inherent in the two surveys, the NES and the LFS, in measuring low pay. Estimates based on this methodology are not available for the areas and population sub-groups requested. It is possible to produce estimates for the proportion of employee jobs earning within the specified hourly pay bands for smaller areas from the NES. However, the NES underestimates the number of low pay jobs since it does not provide a comprehensive picture of the lower end of the earnings distribution.

Mr. Moore

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of workers on adult rates of pay in part-time employment have hourly earnings, including and excluding overtime pay, less than (i) £5.11, (ii) £6.82, (iii) £7.39 and (iv) £3.70 in(a) Scotland, (b) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (c) Great Britain, broken down by (1) male manual, (2) male non-manual, (3) all male workers, (4) female manual, (5) female non-manual, (6) all female workers, (7) all manual, (8) all non-manual and (9) for all workers. [145073]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Michael Moore, dated 18 January 2001: The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent questions on hourly earrings for workers in Scotland, the unitary authorities in Scotland and Great Britain (145073). I am replying in his absence. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published estimates of the number of jobs paid at less than specific hourly low pay thresholds for all workers in the United Kingdom for Spring 2000, and the number of jobs paid at less than National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates for Spring 2000, disaggregated by gender and full and part time. These estimates are based on an improved methodology using data from the New Earnings Survey (NES) and Labour Force Survey (LFS). This methodology provides the best estimates for the number of jobs in the UK paid below low hourly rate thresholds. These estimates are posted on the National Statistics website at: www.statistics.gov.uk/themes/labour—market/nmw—lowpay—tables.asp. The improved methodology has been developed to overcome the deficiencies inherent in the two surveys, the NES and the LFS, in measuring low pay. Estimates based on this methodology are not available for the areas and population sub-groups requested. It is possible to produce estimates for the proportion of employee jobs earning within the specified hourly pay bands for smaller areas from the NES. However, the NES underestimates the number of low pay jobs since it does not provide a comprehensive picture of the lower end of the earnings distribution.