HC Deb 05 May 2004 vol 420 cc1507-8W
Simon Hughes

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many young people aged 16 or 17 he expects will be entitled to the national minimum wage in(a) Greater London, (b) each London borough and (c) the United Kingdom in 2004–05. [170495]

Ruth Kelly

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

Letter from Dennis Roberts to Mr. Simon Hughes, dated 5 May 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about national minimum wage. I am replying in his absence. (170495)

Information about entitlement to the national minimum wage is not available. However, estimates for the number of employees aged 16 and 17 from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) provide an upper limit for the number of people emitted to the national minimum wage.

The table below gives estimates of the number of employees aged 16 and 17 in the United Kingdom and in Greater London for the three month period ending February 2004. They include a small, but not measured, number of people enrolled on apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship schemes who are not entitled to the minimum wage.

Ordinary written

questions tabled

 Answered within a

working week1

 Names day

questions tabled

 Answered on the

nominated day
2002–03
November 2002 203 158 67 54
December 2002 168 138 108 73
January 2003 476 360 62 45
February 2003 295 210 58 47
March 2003 442 363 43 31
April 2003 277 176 52 29
May 2003 298 246 37 24
June 2003 340 248 58 35
July 2003 253 164 31 20
August 2003 0 0 0 0
September 2003 181 139 39 30
October 2003 253 205 40 32
November 2003 160 143 25 18
Total 3,346 2,550 620 438
2003–04
November 2003 53 50 7 7
December 2003 245 205 60 52
January 2004 304 253 43 27
February 2004 252 201 46 37
March 2004 346 267 102 55
April 2004 139 102 19 10
Total 1,339 1,078 277 188
1The Treasury's database records whether ordinary written questions are answered within a working week rather than five sitting days. Which can be several days longer.

John Thurso

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to question 163123 tabled on 18 March, on meetings with the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority. [170870]

Mr. Boateng

I did so on 28 April 2004,Official Report, column 1114W.

Number of employees aged 16 and 17 in the United Kingdom and

in Greater London
Three month period ending February 2004

Employees aged:
Area 16 and 17 16 17
United Kingdom 602,000 227,000 375,000
Greater London 34,000 11,000 23,000
Source:
Office for National Statistics

As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability and the sample size is too small to provide comparable estimates for London Boroughs with any reliability.