HC Deb 19 April 2004 vol 420 cc21-2W
Mr. Hoban

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cost of a workstation is, as defined by the Lyons Report, at the Office of National Statistics in(a) London, (b) Titchfield, (c) Southport, (d) Bristol, (e) Cardiff and (f) Newport. [165050]

Dawn Primarolo

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hoban, dated 7 April 2004: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average cost of a workstation is, as defined by the Lyons Report at the Office of National Statistics offices in (a) London, (b) Titchfield, (c) Southport, (d) Bristol, (e) Cardiff and (f) Newport. (165050) The total property operating costs per annum for each workstation at existing ONS offices are:

  • London—£12,001*
  • Newport—£2,494
  • Titchfield—£2,260
  • Southport—£1,748
*This figure relates to the ONS office accommodation at Drummond Gate, SW1 and Bessborough Street, SW1 only. The Family Records center facilities at Myddelton Street, EC1, operated jointly by ONS and the National Archives, are not included. The total property operating costs per annum for each workstation at Bristol and Cardiff would depend on the type of accommodation available.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average salary is of central Government employees in(a) Hampshire, (b) London, (c) Newport and (d) Bristol. [165290]

Dawn Primarolo

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hoban, dated 7 April 2004; As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the average salary of central government employees in (a) Hampshire, (b) London, (c) Newport, and (d) Bristol. (165290) Estimates of the average earnings of central government employees in the areas requested (where available) are taken from the 2003 New Earnings Survey (NES) and are shown in the attached table. These are provided for full-time employees on adult rates of pay who were in the same job for the year covered by the survey. This is the standard definition used for NES tables. The NES does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work. Area figures are provided according to location of workplaces. Owing to the small NES samples sizes for Newport and Bristol, estimates of the average earnings of central government employees cannot be provided for these areas. We have therefore provided estimates for the two Training and Enterprise Council (TEC) regions that contain Newport and Bristol. These are South East Wales TEC region and Western TEC region respectively. The NES, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in Great Britain. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes, but because of its sampling frame, it has difficulty capturing data on people with very low pay. It is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold. As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the NES are subject to sampling error.

Average gross annual earnings of central government employees in six areas, as shown: April 2003
£
Area Average annual earnings
Hampshire 24,065
London 28,130
Newport 1—
City of Bristol 1—
South East Wales TEC 22,892
Western TEC 25,037
1Under the New Earnings Survey publication criteria, data cannot be shown owing to the small sample size.
Notes:
1. Estimates for South East Wales TEC and the Western TEC refer to these Training and Enterprise Council Regions. Western TEC region covers four local authorities in the Bristol area. South East Wales TEC region covers 10 local authorities in the Newport and Cardiff areas.
2. Central government employees are employees of organizations classified to central government using the Interdepartmental Business Register (IDBR). This includes Government Departments and establishments, the NHS and various Government-financed organisations.
Armed forces are not included in the New Earnings Survey.
Source:
New Earnings Survey, April 2003