Tony WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workers in Great Yarmouth have benefited from the national minimum wage. [186700]
§ Mr. SutcliffeIt is not possible to provide estimates specifically for the constituency of Great Yarmouth. However, based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in 2003, the DTI estimates that around 90,000 people in the eastern region stood to benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage in April 1999. Between 80,000 and 90,000 people were expected to have benefited from the October 2003 uprating of the national minimum wage.