§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish a table showing (a) the percentage increases in the rates of pay and earnings and allowances where appropriate, respectively, of manual workers, nurses, civil servants, police officers, local government clerical staff and all employed persons over the past 10 years and (b) the percentage increases for the same groups of workers since May 1979.
§ Mr. AlisonThe following table sets out the available information on percentage changes in average earnings from the New Earnings Survey.
Average gross weekly earning* of full-time employees whose pay was not affected by absence in the survey period Percentage increase between April 1971 April 1979 and April and April 1981** 1981** Men aged 21 and over Manual employees 314.6 31.1 Nurses† 406.4 59.5 Non-manual employees in national government service ††323.7 ††50.1 Local government non-manual staff 338.0 48.0 Police officers below sergeant 368.5 43.8 All employees 327.1 38.6 Women aged 18 and over Manual employees 386.9 35.0 Nurses† 386.5 52.2 Non-manual employees in national government service 335.2 36.2 Local government non-manual staff 358.3 47.8 Police officers below sergeant ..‡ 48.4 All employees 399.5 45.1 Source: New Earnings Survey 1971, 1979,1981
Notes
* Including allowances.
† Based on "staff nurses, enrolled nurses, registered nurses and midwives" in April 1971, and "registered and enrolled nurses and midwives" in April 1979 and April 1981.
312W‡ The sample size in the April 1971 survey was too small to;give a reliable estimate.
** Average earnings reported in the April surveys will, in general, not reflect the effect of pay settlements agreed at a later date, although made retrospective to April or earlier period. In particular, the figures for April 1981 will not reflect the effect of the latest pay settlements affecting nurses in the National Health Service and non-manual employees in national government service.
†† The figures of average earnings in April 1981 reflect the effect of industrial action, which caused a relatively high proportion of employees with below average earnings to be omitted because their pay was affected by absence.
Changes in average earnings will reflect changes in the structure of employment and do not reflect an equivalent change in the rate of pay for comparable jobs. Changes between successive Aprils also reflect changes in the timing of pay settlements.