HC Deb 04 June 1984 vol 61 cc102-7W
Mr. Evans

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish the latest information on (a) establishments covered by wages councils, (b) numbers of inspections and underpayments, (c) numbers of workers covered, together with figures on underpayment and arrears recovered and (d) regional breakdown of

Table 1 Establishments covered by Wages Council on register—December 1983
Council London (East) London (West) South Eastern Southern Eastern South Western Midlands (East) Midlands (West) North Western (East) North Western (West) Yorkshire and Humberside Northern Scotland (East) Scotland (West) Wales Total
Aerated Waters 20 17 28 46 46 47 51 57 36 56 54 42 56 29 45 630
Clothing Manufacture 1,831 736 374 353 450 335 621 560 850 344 713 274 173 382 276 8,292
Boot and Shoe Repairing 155 182 169 223 160 186 155 188 160 161 196 109 120 130 78 2,372
Button Manufacturing 15 4 2 3 2 — 5 8 7 1 9 1 — 3 2 62
Coffin Furniture and Cerement Making — 1 — — — 2 — 5 2 2 5 — 1 2 — 20
Cotton Waste Reclamation 1 — — — 1 1 — — 17 10 3 — — — 1 34
Flax and Hemp — — — — — — — — — — — 1 12 — — 13
Fur 154 113 18 21 13 12 7 12 23 17 27 7 17 36 7 484
General Waste Materials Reclamation 104 55 69 102 115 118 130 187 214 177 308 108 78 72 112 1,949
Hairdressing Undertakings 1,524 1,745 2,517 2,505 2,359 2,580 2,286 3,207 2,289 2,583 3,339 1,881 1,489 1,208 1,832 33,344
Hat, Cap and Millinery 15 27 7 11 52 5 4 9 23 4 9 8 4 8 3 189
Lace Finishing 3 — — — — — 59 — — 2 — — — 1 1 66
Laundry 57 114 128 98 59 128 52 70 48 36 62 50 97 63 48 1,110
Linen and Cotton Handkerchief 2 3 32 — — 2 18 2 91 32 8 1 6 2 4 203
Made-up Textiles 19 14 14 19 39 25 22 20 20 29 40 25 17 20 17 340
Ostrich and Fancy Feather 6 — 2 2 7 2 2 — — 1 — 6 2 — 2 32
Perambulator and Invalid Carriage 1 1 — 3 1 2 7 3 6 — 4 2 1 2 3 36
Retail Bespoke Tailoring 83 165 39 54 42 64 29 32 46 44 49 22 33 38 17 757
Rope, Twine and Net 3 — 5 — 5 13 3 4 17 9 20 4 24 9 1 117
Sack and Bag 10 2 1 1 10 1 8 18 10 18 16 3 2 4 4 108
Toy Manufacturing 27 20 24 29 33 32 47 25 21 26 44 11 10 5 35 389
Retail Trades (Non-Food) 5,462 5,857 8,459 8,307 7,769 8,583 6,224 8,916 6,513 7,190 9,246 4,766 5,894 4,041 5,367 102,594
Retail Food and Allied Trades 5,708 5,453 9,161 9,251 8,805 9,716 6,933 9,675 7,701 8,127 11,685 7,175 7,156 5,538 6,267 118,351
Licensed Non-Residential 2,803 2,550 4,943 4,934 4,402 5,287 4,888 7,017 4,788 4,790 7,030 4,157 3,029 2,352 4,528 67,498
Licensed Residential and Restaurant 798 2,522 2,758 2,098 2,049 5,207 1,402 1,270 1,016 1,594 1,898 1,311 2,583 1,345 2,341 30,192
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 1,187 1,317 1,428 1,224 1,337 1,689 915 946 807 1,192 1,367 809 971 793 1,134 17,116
Total 20,008 20,898 30,178 29,284 27,756 34,037 23,868 32,231 24,705 26,445 36,132 20,773 21,775 16,083 22,125 386,298
Table 2 Checks of pay carried out and underpaymentsfound-1983
Analysis by wages council
Wages Council All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspection by visit
Estabs checked Per cent. of register checked No. of estabs underpaying Per cent. of estabs underpaying Estabs visited Per cent. of register visited No. of estabs visited underpaying Per cent. of estabs visited underpaying
Aerated Waters 92 13.8 5 5.4 45 6.8 5 11.1
Clothing Manufacture 843 9.0 278 33.0 797 8.6 278 34.9
Boot & Shoe Repairing 316 12.4 13 4.1 184 7.2 13 7.1
Button Manufacturing 10 13.5 1 10.0 9 12.2 1 11.1
Coffin Furniture & Cerement Making 2 8.7 — — 2 8.7 — —
Cotton Waste Reclamation 5 13.2 — — 5 13.2 — —
Flax & Hemp 2 14.3 — — 2 14.3 — —
Fur 14 2.7 4 28.6 14 2.7 4 28.6
General Waste Materials Reclamation 194 9.7 20 10.3 187 9.3 20 10.7
Hairdressing Undertakings 3,925 11.8 823 21.0 2,536 7.6 823 32.5
Hat, Cap & Millinery 32 14.1 9 28.1 32 14.1 9 28.1
Lace Finishing 8 12.9 1 12.5 8 12.9 1 12.5
Laundry 111 9.9 18 16.2 108 9.7 18 16.7
Linen & Cotton Handkerchief 19 10.3 5 26.3 18 9.7 5 27.8
Made-up Textiles 39 10.9 3 7.7 39 10.9 3 7.7
Ostrich & Fancy-Feather 4 111 1 25.0 4 11.1 1 25.0
Perambulator & Invalid Carriage 5 13.2 — — 5 13.2 — —
Retail Bespoke Tailoring 55 6.2 10 18.2 55 6.2 10 18.2
Rope, Twine & Net 18 15.0 2 11.1 18 15.0 2 11.1
Sack & Bag 11 9.6 1 9.1 11 9.6 1 9.1
Toy Manufacturing 45 11.2 12 26.7 45 11.2 12 26.7
Retail Trades (non-Food) 13,130 12.5 2,080 15.8 5,474 5.2 2,080 38.0
Retail Food & Allied Trades 12,205 10.2 3,007 24.6 6,545 5.5 3,007 45.9

wages council inquiries, in the same format as that used in the reply given on 28 March 1983, Official Report, columns 53–56; and whether he will also indicate the number of cases of underpayment where the employer was prosecuted.

Mr. Gummer

The information requested is given in tables 1–15. In 1983, two employers were prosecuted for underpaying workers.

Wages Council All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspection by visit
Estabs checked Per cent. of register checked No. of estabs underpaying Per cent. of estabs underpaying Estabs visited Per cent. of register visited No. of estabs visited under-paying Per cent. of estabs visited under-paying
Licensed Non-Residential 6,436 9.6 1,659 25.8 5,491 8.2 1,659 30.2
Licensed Residential & Restaurant 3,270 10.9 1,373 22.0 3,136 10.5 1,373 43.8
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 1,767 10.1 517 29.3 1,562 8.9 517 33.1
Total 42,558 10.9 9,842 23.1 26,332 6.7 9,842 37.4

Table 3 Workers covered by Wages Councils and results of pay checks in 1983
Council Estimated number of workers covered by Wages Council Orders at June 1982 Workers whose pay was checked by visit and other methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers underpaid Arrears Assessed Percentage underpaid of all workers checked Percentage underpaid of workers checked by visit
Aerated Waters 15,000 1,012 805 12 986 1.2 1.5
Clothing Manufacture 252,800 16,629 14,010 689 79,489 4.1 4.9
Boot and Shoe Manufacturing 7,100 860 535 17 2,006 2.0 3.2
Button Manufacturing 2,100 232 221 37 6,016 15.9 16.7
Coffin Furniture and Cerement Making 300 38 38 — — — —
Cotton Waste Reclamation 500 50 50 — — — —
Flax and Hemp 1,400 21 21 — — — —
Fur 4,500 67 67 4 303 6.0 6.0
General Waste Materials Reclamation 19,300 1,437 1,413 39 4.755 2.7 2.8
Hairdressing 135,600 13,031 8,189 1,110 125.182 8.5 13.6
Hat, Cap and Millinery 6,800 575 575 29 1,986 5.0 5.0
Lace Finishing 800 86 86 1 132 1.2 1.2
Laundry 33,700 1,506 1,381 33 3,802 2.2 2.4
Linen and Cotton Handkerchief 5,200 327 307 25 1,492 7.6 8.1
Made-up Textiles 4,800 437 437 15 980 3.4 3.4
Ostrich and Fancy Feather 1,400 287 287 1 58 0.3 0.3
Perambulator and Invalid Carriage 1,500 387 387 — — — —
Retail Bespoke Tailoring 5,200 184 184 15 5,116 8.2 8.2
Rope, Twine and Net 4,000 375 375 9 579 2.4 2.4
Sack and Bag 1,400 71 71 1 111 1.4 1.4
Toy Manufacturing 18,900 1,586 1,586 160 10,553 10.1 10.1
Retail Non-Food Trades 512,800 114,318 19,880 3,496 442,190 3.1 17.6
Retail Food and Allied Trades 519,300 97,722 23,415 6,509 685,924 6.7 27.8
Licensed Non-Residential 508,700 42,055 32,704 4,377 560,233 10.4 13.4
Licensed Residential and Restaurant 555,300 27,123 24,578 2,891 351,290 10.7 11.8
Unlicensed Place of Refreshment 116,400 12,437 7,703 1,362 133,170 11.0 17.7
Total 2,734,800 332,853 139,305 20,832 2,416,353 6.3 15.0

Table 4 Checks of pay carried out and underpayments found-1983
Analysis by division
Division All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspection by visit
Estabs checked Per cent. of register checked No. of estabs underpaying Per cent. of estabs underpaying Estabs visited Per cent. of register visited No. of estabs visited under-paying Per cent. of estabs visited under-paying
London East 2,181 10.2 441 20.2 1,463 6.8 441 30.1
London West 2,506 10.4 339 13.5 1,302 5.4 339 26.0
South Eastern 3,166 10.3 871 27.5 2,682 8.7 871 32.5
Southern 3,140 10.8 494 15.7 1,755 6.0 494 28.1
Eastern 2,348 8.5 727 31.0 1,554 5.6 727 46.8
South Western 3,321 9.7 1,078 32.5 2,490 7.3 1,078 43.3
Midlands (East) 4,281 18.7 573 13.4 2,018 8.8 573 28.4
Midlands (West) 3,058 9.5 543 17.8 1,892 5.9 543 28.7
North Western (East) 2,054 8.3 704 34.3 1,576 6.4 704 44.7
North Western (West) 2,481 9.2 865 34.9 1,552 5.8 865 55.7

Division All checks of pay (visited and not visited) Inspection by visit
Estabs checked Per cent. of register checked No. of estabs underpaying Per cent. of estabs underpaying Estabs visited Per cent. of register visited No. of estabs visited under-paying Per cent. of estabs visited under-paying
Yorkshire and Humberside 3,835 10.6 941 24.5 2,584 7.2 941 36.4
Northern 2,983 14.3 630 21.1 1,017 4.9 630 61.9
Scotland (East) 2,477 11.1 525 21.2 1,588 7.1 525 33.1
Scotland (West) 2,817 17.2 389 13.8 1,351 8.2 389 28.8
Wales 1,910 8.7 722 37.8 1,508 6.8 722 47.9
Great Britain 42,558 10.9 9,842 23.1 26,332 6.7 9,842 37.4
Table 5 Workers whose pay was checked in each Wages Inspectorate Division—1983
Division Workers whose pay was checked by visit and other methods Workers whose pay was checked by visit Workers underpaid Arrears assessed Percentage underpaid ofall workers checked Percentage underpaid of workers checked by visit
London (East) 16,545 7,291 735 102,490 4.4 10.0
London (West) 27,828 6,187 582 97,957 2.0 9.4
South East 14,348 10,774 1,710 186,555 11.9 15.9
Southern 38,447 12,692 955 98,603 2.5 7.5
Eastern 14,724 9,145 1,575 171, 148 10.7 17.2
South West 16,834 11,749 2,161 238,283 129 18.4
Midlands (East) 38,704 9,995 1,284 167,449 3.4 12.9
Midlands (West) 19,103 10,773 1,097 153,210 5.8 10.2
North West (East) 11,344 8,272 1,470 176,654 12.9 17.8
North West (West) 29,467 8,260 1,945 191,040 6.7 23.5
Yorkshire and Humberside 29,306 15,654 2,227 250,636 7.6 14.2
Northern 35,034 5,099 1,418 155,518 4.0 27.9
Scotland (East) 15,507 8,940 1,153 111,821 7.4 12.9
Scotland (West) 16,748 7,980 806 105,496 4.9 10.1
Wales 8,914 6,494 1,714 209,493 19.2 26.4
Total 332,853 139,305 20,832 2,416,353 6.3 15.0