§ Mr. Maudeasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will list for each wages council the administrative and other costs to the taxpayer, the number of employers affected and the estimated average cost to each employer.
§ Mr. GummerRecords of expenditure are not kept in such a way that the cost of the wages council system can be reliably estimated by council. However, the total cost including the Wages Inspectorate in 1982–83 was £3.83 million. It is not possible to provide details by council of the number of employers affected by wages orders because records are kept on the basis of establishments, many of which are branches of multiples. The following table gives the number of establishments in each council:
Council No. of establishments listed at 31 December 1982 Aerated Waters (E&W) 579 Aerated Waters (Scotland) 86 Boot and Shoe Repairing 2,543 Button Manufacturing 74 Clothing Manufacturing 9,320 Coffin Furniture and Cerement Making 23 Cotton Waste Reclamation 38 Flax and Hemp 14 Fur 519 General Waste Materials Reclamation 2,007 Hairdressing Undertakings 33,290 Hat, Cap and Millinery 227 Lace Finishing 62 Laundry 1,116 Licensed Non-Residential 67,001 Licensed Residential and Restaurant 29,875 Linen and Cotton Goods 185 Made-up Textiles 358 Ostrich and Fancy Feather 36 Perambulator and Invalid Carriage 38 Retail Bespoke Tailoring 892 Retail Food 119,958 Retail Non-Food 104,867 Rope, Twine and Net 120 Sack and Bag 114 Toy Manufacturing 402 Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 17,527 All Wages Councils 391,271