§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all wages councils stating:(a) how many members serve on each council and their composition, (b) the number of persons employed in each profession covered by these wages councils, (c) the total annual cost of administration and (d) the total payments to members of each council.
§ Mr. John Grant:(a) I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 4th December 1978—[Vol. 959, c. 476–7]. (b) The estimated number of workers in each wages council trade on industry is given below:
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APPROXIMATE*NUMBER OF WORKERS COVERED Wages Council Aerated Waters (England and Wales) 15,000 Aerated Waters (Scotland) 1,000 Boot and Shoe Repairing 10,000 Button Manufacturing 2,000 Coffin Furniture and CerementMaking 500 Corset 16,000 Cotton Waste Reclamation 750 Dressmaking and Women's Light Clothing (England and Wales) 125,000 Dressmaking and Women's Light Clothing (Scotland) 9,000 Flax and Hemp 2,000 Fur 7,000 General Waste Materials Reclamation 20,000 Hairdressing Undertakings 125,000 Hat, Cap and Millinery (Great Britain) 7,500 Lace Finishing 1,000 Laundry 55,000 Licensed Non-residential Establishment 350,000
Licensed Residential Establishments and Licensed Restaurant 400,000 Linen and Cotton Handkerchief and Household Goods and Linen Piece Goods 6,500 Made-up Textiles 6,000 Ostrich and Fancy Feather and Artificial Flower 750 Perambulator and Invalid Carriage 3,000 Pin, Hook and Eye and Snap Fastener 500 Ready-made and Wholesale Bespoke Tailoring 125,000 Retail Bespoke Tailoring (Great Britain) 6,000 Retail Bookselling and Stationery Trades 30,000 Retail Bread and Flour Confectionery Trade (England and Wales) 60,000 Retail Bread and Flour Confectionery Trade (Scotland) 9,000 Retail Drapery, Outfitting and Footwear Trades 400,000 Retail Food Trades (England and Wales) 300,000 Retail Food Trades (Scotland) 35,000 Retail Furnishing and Allied Trades 200,000 Retail Newsagency, Tobacco and Confectionery Trades (E. and W.) 85,000 Retail Newsagency, Tobacco and Confectionery Trades (Scotland) 13,000 Rope, Twine and Net 5,000 Rubber Proofed Garment Making Industry 1,000 Sack and Bag 2,000 Shirtmaking 25,000 Toy Manufacturing 30,000 Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 130,000 Wholesale Mantle and Costume 60,000 *These estimates are derived mainly from numbers found to be employed in establishments visited on inspection by the Wages Inspectorate. The sample is unrepresentative for statistical purposes and there is a substantial margin of error. (c) The information cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.
(d) The total payments to members of all wages councils in the financial year 1977–78 were:
£ Fees 3,655 Expenses 34,529 Total 38,184 A breakdown for individual councils cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.