§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish for the West Midlands region (a) the number and percentage of wages council firms inspected and found to be infringing wages council orders, (b) the numbers and percentages of workers inspected and affected and (c) the number of workers paid arrears and the amount for 1981.
§ Mr. AlisonThe information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the following figures are available for inspections by visit which were completed in 1981 in the West Midlands division of the wages inspectorate.
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Number Per cent. Number of establishments inspected at which underpayments were found 598 — Percentage of establishments inspected at which underpayments were found — 33.7 Number of workers examined 9,519 — Percentage of workers examined and found to be underpaid — 12.4 Number of workers paid arrears 1,182 — Amount of arrears collected*† £115,060 * Includes holiday remuneration. † A further £1,507 arrears were collected other than as the result of a formal inspection. In addition, arrears amounting to £30,356 in respect of 158 workers were assessed but not collected because the workers decided not to accept all or part of the amount due or because arrears could not be collected owing to bankruptcy, etc. The figures quoted cannot be regarded as representative of wages council trades as a whole in the West Midlands, as the inspectorate investigates all complaints and tends to concentrate its resources on areas where underpayments are likely to occur.